After the Wedding
by mediaocrity4
Summary: It's the end of an era. She is no longer just one of the Nakano Quintuplets. She is now Mrs. Uesugi. But that's just the beginning. Married life is full of fun and adventure.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **

Chapter 1: Reception

Yotsuba sat at a table with her four sisters. She was relaxing and just listening to music at the wedding reception. Her wedding reception. She was now officially married to her beloved Fuutarou-Kun. She was no longer just one of the Nakano Quintuplets. She was special. She had earned this. He chose her. She was now Yotsuba Uesugi. It still felt unreal. It seemed like a dream that this was her reception, and that she would soon be on her honeymoon, and then would finish moving into the house her and her newly wed husband had picked out.

"So, Yotsuba-Chan, how do you feel?" Ichika asked.

"Like if I bounce around too much my boobs are going to fly out of this dress." Yotsuba shook her head.

"I'm sure Fuutarou-Kun wouldn't mind." Ichika winked.

"Where is Fuutarou anyway?" Miku asked.

"I think he went to the bathroom." Itsuki said as she looked around. "Takeda-Kun is gone too."

"What are those boys doing?" Nino groaned.

The boys in question were in the bathroom. Fuutarou was looking in the mirror, trying to psych himself up to enjoy himself. He had been nervous all week. He had nearly messed up the game Yotsuba had originally planned for the wedding by forgetting the ring. And then his beloved had to tease him and make him think he screwed up just for shits and giggles. Now, the games had passed and it was time to dance. And just moments before he found himself in this bathroom, he realized….he had no idea how to actually dance.

"You did fine on the first dance." Takeda said.

"Yotsuba and I practiced that for a long time and I still nearly screwed it up."

"So spiritless, where's the man who declared that he'd get the best scores in all of Japan?"

"Compared to this, academic achievement is nothing."

"I feel sorry for Yotsuba-Chan. If you're this frozen for the reception I can only imagine how much of a bore you'll be on the honeymoon."

"During the honeymoon, we won't be surrounded by hundreds of people, many of which I don't know."

"What's the worst that can happen?"

"I embarrass myself."

"Tsk tsk." Takeda shook his head. "Do you honestly think Yotsuba-Chan will care? She'd probably love for you to do something embarrassing. It'll give you more stories to tell to your kids in the coming years."

"Well, still." Fuutarou had nothing to counter that. He knew he couldn't spend the entire reception held up in the bathroom. Especially with Takeda refusing to leave him alone.

The two left the bathroom and returned to the reception. Another song was starting and Fuutarou found himself being embraced by Yotsuba. He nervously rocked from side to side and she pressed her chin into his chest.

"Nervous much?" She beamed. Itsuki and Miku had a talent for knowing what he was thinking but Yotsuba alone was the one who had an uncanny ability to always know what he was feeling.

"Just not much for dancing." Fuutarou admitted.

"Don't worry, I don't exactly want to bounce around in this thing." She puckered her lips and shook her chest a little bit. "At least not until we get to the hotel room." She rightfully earned the blush that crept upon his face. That was her way of breaking the tension. Nothing got his mind off his few inadequacies like reminding him that he was dating-now married-to a drop dead gorgeous girl who lived to support him and see him smile.

"I feel like the luckiest guy in the world." Fuutarou muttered.

"Well you are." Yotsuba felt pretty smug saying that. "But I think luck had very little to do with this. You made a choice, you chose me. And I chose you long ago."

"You earned my love." Fuutarou said. "Sometimes I think I didn't do as much to earn your support."

"You did plenty." She rested her head on his chest. "Uesugi-San. Well, I guess I'm Uesugi-San now too."

"Yep, you asked for this Yotsuba Uesugi."

The days of Yotsuba Nakano were over. Her family were all taking steps towards their own independent lives. She was the first to get married. That much felt right. She was the first to meet Fuutarou. She was the first to change. She was the first to screw up. She was the first to improve herself. She was the first to embrace Fuutarou as a tutor. She was the one to get married.

Not that the others were slacking off. Ichika was one of the hottest actresses in the country. She had thrown herself into her career, and was being rewarded for it. She was beloved by the whole nation, and many people outside the nation as well. Yotsuba made it a point to record every interview and collect every magazine she appeared in-even if it was a bit risque.

Nino had actually gone to university with Fuutarou. They both got business degrees. But whereas Fuutarou got a high paying job for a major tech company, Nino took a bigger risk. She hadn't been as good of a student. So, with a loan from their father, she opened up a bakery. Miku had gone to culinary school, and had gone into business with Nino. Nino handled the finances, Miku handled the customers, and they both worked the ovens.

Itsuki had gotten her teaching degree and was now a third-grade teacher. Because of summer break-and the role she played in bringing Yotsuba and Fuutarou together- she had been chosen to be Yotsuba's Maid of Honor. With that, she had spent a lot of time with the Best Man Takeda. Rumors had started that the two were dating. The rumors were true, even if Itsuki didn't really realize it yet.

Yotsuba didn't have as much aptitude for an actual career. So long as Fuutarou made enough to pay the bills, she was happy working small jobs just to have some extra spending money. She worked at a flower shop most days. Aside from that, she kept herself occupied with volunteer work. She helped out at soup kitchens, community events, and coached both soccer and basketball. Staying active and helping people was a better alternative than wasting away in the apartment. Ah right, she wouldn't be living in that apartment anymore. She and Fuutarou were moving in together.

And as nervous as he might have been, she was equal parts nervous and giddy. They almost never had any proper alone time. Now every night was going to be alone time. And the implications of that excited the young woman to no end. She just hoped her husband was equally excited. She didn't know that his mind went to those places on an hourly basis, especially when he had such a clear view of her….biggest assets.

"There's no need to be nervous." She said as she rose to the tips of her toes. "This should make you excited." She planted her lips on his. There was one or two "oohs" from the guests, watching them waddle around to the music. She had kissed him a dozen times over and still, someway somehow, it still caused her heart to jump around like a frog.

A few hours later and the reception was coming to a close. People started to leave, offering one last congratulations to the married couple. Eventually, the pair left as well, leaving Itsuki and Takeda to oversee the clean up while they gallivanted towards their honeymoon.

The night that followed was a long one, full of unbridled passion. The two were tempted to spend the entire vacation holed up in their hotel room, but better judgement won out and they explored the city of Kyoto, where they had met ten years earlier. They took dozens of pictures that Yotsuba would spend the following weeks filing into a photo album along with all their wedding photos.

Then, at the end, they returned to their house. Life would set upon the path of the new normal. Fuutarou and Yotsuba Uesugi- husband and wife, a career businessman and the community leader he was married to. This was only the beginning of married life though. The true adventure was on the horizon.

**AN: I love thinking about weddings involving my favorite characters. I think this is like ...the fifth time I've written a wedding. I chose Yotsuba as the bride because I had the most fun with her After the Confession story and the most interesting ideas of what she'd be like as a wife. So, stay tuned for more of this.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I just really love writing slice of life stuff. It makes me so happy when characters are just happy and living their lives. So, this might end up being my favorite of my Quintuplet Fanfictions.**

Chapter 2: A Day in the Life of Yotsuba Uesugi

The home of Fuutarou and Yotsuba Uesugi- newly weds- a quiet house in the suburbs right down the hill from a park that Yotsuba had always frequented. She had always stood on the swings, looking down at the houses and imagining each little light as a family. It would fill her with joy. Now she and Fuutarou were one of those lights.

Fuutarou was getting dressed and ready for work when Yotsuba was stirred awake. His job had him working in the mornings and afternoon. He had been keen on getting back to his job as soon as they got back from their honeymoon. This was the first morning back. The first time she was waking up in a bed she and Fuutarou shared.

She sat up and stretched, letting the bed sheets fall off her nude form. Her back popped as she arched it, eliciting a long guttural groan. She bent over, stretching to touch her toes. Her legs and chest were both sore.

"Sleep well?" He asked. He must have heard her stirring awake.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Yotsuba blushed. A cold shiver reminded her of how exposed she was so she pulled the sheet up to cover herself. She looked around and found her discarded nightshirt and panties lying on the floor. She quickly threw them on and she leapt out of bed.

Her sense of balance was off. All the cold air circulating through the house had gathered on the hardwood floor. It felt like little needles on Yotsuba's feet. Fuutarou was finishing up. He started putting his tie on. She glanced at the clock. He only had five minutes before he had to leave for work. It wasn't long enough for her taste. She wanted to spend every second of every day with her arms wrapped around her beloved husband.

"Yotsuba!" Fuutarou flinched as he felt Yotsuba embrace him from behind.

"Do you have to work today?" She pouted.

"Yes, I do." He said as he grabbed her hands. "And so do you." He pried them off his body and spun around to face her. "What time do you get off?"

"Hmph." She frowned. "I'm only working for a few hours. I'll be home by the time that office sets you free."

"Then I'll see you when I get back." He lifted her head and pulled her into a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted herself on her toes. She whined again when he broke the kiss and let her go. "Later Yotsuba."

"Have a good day at work." She muttered as he left the room. She walked over to the window and saw him drive off, leaving her in the house alone.

They had been looking at this house for a while. Yotsuba and her sisters had used their connections, and Fuutaou his financial acumen, in order to secure the house. Itsuki, Raiha and Fuutarou's father-Isanari had been the ones to put everything in the house. But the only thing truly setup was the bed.

All of their dress clothes were slung over in the closet. The rest of Fuutarou's clothes fit in a single suitcase. All of Yotsuba's clothes had been stuffed into trash bags and crammed into a single corner of their room. All of their furniture was crammed into the living room. The only exception was their large dresser. The dresser was empty though. They hadn't bothered going through their clothes that first day. They were far too busy not using their clothes to begin with. Everything else was in boxes labeled by room.

Yotsuba dug through her clothes bags until she found a pair of shorts and a sports bra. She changed into them, and then located her free weights. She spent around an hour exercising, focusing on her upper body and abs. After that, she moved her weights into the basement. That's where she wanted the real hangout place to be. She wanted to keep all her workout equipment there, as well as a party room. She envisioned getting a poker table and a pool table and maybe some table tennis, foosball or air hockey stuff. She'd likely have to pamper Fuutarou a lot for a long time to convince him to spend money on all that stuff though.

In the meantime, they had lucked out on a washer and dryer. Not many people their age had their own. They had gotten very lucky with the previous owner of the house. Same with the fridge, oven, microwave and the lawn chairs in the backyard, they just came with the house.

Yotsuba went back up stairs and contemplated taking a shower. She decided she'd rather have a bath. So she went into the bathroom right next to the bedroom, and started running the water. That's when she saw that Fuutarou had already set up the bathroom. The box that had been labeled as such was empty. Their toothbrushes were in a cup on the sink. Under the sink was filled with household stuff that Ichika and Nino had bought for them. And the shampoo and soap were already on the edge of the tub.

While the water ran, Yotsuba pulled the sheets off of the bed. They were already smelling a little musty from the previous day's activities. She threw them into the washer and started it up. She grabbed a towel from the bathroom closet and stripped down.

The bath was soothing. She took her time, letting the water soak into every curve of her body. She fantasized about sharing the tub with Fuutarou someday. It'd be pretty cramped, but all the better as far as she was concerned.

After she was satisfied with how clean she was, she wrapped a towel around herself and returned to the bedroom. She combed her hair, thinking about its style. Her sisters had all changed their hairstyle just for the wedding. They had a lot of fun playing the quintuplet game with the guests during the reception. The "Bride Hairstyle" had aspects of all five girls preferred style. There was a bit that framed the face like Ichika, was short in the back like Nino, had long sweeping bangs like Miku, a cowlick like Itsuki and was tied back in a bow like Yotsuba.

She started going through all her clothes. She made executive decisions on which drawers she would lay claim to. She had far more outfits than he did, so it was her right to dictate the drawer space. As she did so, she also picked out her own outfit. She settled on a matching green bra and panties, a plaid skirt, and a white button up top. She brought it all together by tying her hair up in her special white ribbon.

After all that, it was time for work. Her stomach started growling after she got on her bike. She took a quick stop at a deli to get a turkey sandwich on her way to the florist. Yotsuba had been working part time there for over a year now. She had been offered a full-time position but chose to say no so that she could maintain her lifestyle of volunteer work for the community.

"Yotsuba-San." Natsumi greeted her. Natsumi Ino was the person who owned the flower shop. "How was the honeymoon?"

"It was wonderful." She responded.

"Ah, to be young and in love. I remember when I first got married." Natsumi was almost three times Yotsuba's age. She must have been pushing seventy. Her granddaughter Kyoko also worked at the shop, and was a few years younger than Yotsuba. "You can always tell the difference between newly weded women, and women who have been married for a while. Just like you can tell the difference between happy and sad women."

"I think if there's people out there with enough love to tell my sisters and I apart, anything is possible."

"I'll tell you young lady, when you walked in here and smiled I was nearly blinded by light." Natsumi added. "That light will fade a little bit. Best case scenario all that joy you feel will become so normal that it just becomes a part of you as natural as your breath or striking hair color."

"Thanks, I'm sure Fuutarou will keep me smiling." Yotsuba said. "And I gotta keep earning those smiles."

"I doubt you'll have much trouble with a man like that." Natsumi nodded. "Anyway, it's been a slow day today. And I'm sure you're eager to get back home so…"

"Well, Fuutarou had to go to work as well." Yotsuba beamed as she scratched the back of her head. "I'm here for as long as you'll have me so long as I'm home by six."

"Always so helpful." Natsumi praised. "Kyoko is at school until five. You can leave when she gets here."

Yotsuba got situated. She walked around, examining the plants. She then sat behind the counter lightly dancing to the music playing in the shop. She pulled out her phone and loaded up one of the nature podcasts she loved listening to. This one was about the jaguars of South America. Over the hours only two groups of customers came in to buy some flowers. At five, Kyoko arrived.

"Ooh, Nakano-San!" The teenager cheered as she entered the shop.

"Fufu." Yotsuba laughed. "It's actually Uesugi-San now." She giggled as she showed off her wedding ring.

"Oooooh!" The girl cooed as she grabbed Yotsuba's hand to examine it. "That's right, you and Uesugi-San finally got married."

"Finally?" Sure Yotsuba thought of it that way. She had been in love with him for ten years. But it was only five years since fate reunited them and just over two years since they started getting serious about dating. For other people though, the writing was on the wall long before he even realized his own feelings. Kyoko had never met Fuutarou, she had only heard the stories about him from Yotsuba. Therefore it made sense that she thought of their relationship as if it had been a fate decided a decade ago.

"Psst." She leaned in. "Does that mean you two ...you know…." Her face betrayed her embarrassment and by extension the subject matter of her question.

"Young lady!" Natsumi shouted as she smacked her with a fan. "Girls your age don't need to concern yourselves with such subject matter."

"But grandma, I need to learn about this stuff before I get a boyfriend. And Nakano- er Uesugi-Chan is a good role model, you said so yourself."

"Kyoko-Chan, just call me Yotsuba." She smiled. "It's so much easier."

"And who said you were going to get a boyfriend anytime soon?" Natsumi asked.

"I'm seventeen, I'm practically an adult."

"I should get going." Yotsuba interrupted. "I have a place or two to go to on my way back home. I'll see you two later."

"Aww, won't you stay a bit longer?" Kyoko asked.

"She has a husband who will be getting home soon. You'll understand one day."

"How can I understand if you won't let me ask her stuff?"

"You can ask about relationships without letting your head go straight to the gutter!" Natsumi barked back.

Yotsuba laughed as she clocked out. She wondered if her own mom would have said similar things when she was that age. The thought of her mother made her sad for a moment. She prayed silently, hoping that her thoughts reached her mother's spirit.

"Yotsuba-Chan?" As she got on her bike, she ran into Takeda.

"Takeda-Kun?" She responded.

"I thought you'd be home by now." He said nervously.

"Fuutarou-Kun gets off at six. I was just killing time by making money."

"Yeah...that's good." He said. His eyes darted to the flower shop then back to Yotsuba.

"Go for it." She said. "You should be honest with your feelings. Otherwise you'll be waiting for a long time and miss your chance." He nodded, understanding. He had a thing for Itsuki. Yotsuba had seen it coming from a mile away. And she was sure Itsuki had feelings for him too. Whether Itsuki's were romantic in nature was still anyone's guess. "Anyway, I'm going, see you around Takeda-Kun."

She stopped by Nino and Miku's bakery on the way home. The place looked busy. Miku and some guy were working cash registers, taking orders while Nino stayed busy at the ovens. The three of them scrambled around to get everyone's orders done in a timely manner.

"Yotsuba?" Miku greeted.

"Is this a bad time?" Yotsuba asked.

"It's a busy time." Miku handed the customer his change. The line had officially died down enough for her to help Nino prepare the orders.

"Damn, I should have called ahead." Yotsuba said as she fidgeted around.

"Hold on." Miku said. "Fuutarou already placed an order for you to pick up."

"He did?" Yotsuba asked.

"Yeah." Miku got something out of the oven, wrapped it up and handed it to the customer.

"Here you go." Nino got the baked goods and handed them to Yotsuba. "We know you haven't really had a chance for grocery shopping yet." Yotsuba set the pastries down and dug into her purse. "He already paid for them."

"It'd be nice if he let me know." Yotsuba rolled her eyes. "Like, what if I decided to get snacks at another shop?"

"Then I'd deliver them when we close shop tonight." Nino mused.

"By the way, who's the new guy?" Yotsuba asked.

"His name is Yoshitsugo." Nino said. "He's one of Kisuke's friends." Kisuke was a boy Nino met at university. The two had hit it off pretty well, but-in Nino's words-she didn't really have time to date.

"Well, tomorrow's my day off and I'm going to kick ass on unpacking all those boxes." Yotsuba said. "You should swing by when you got the time."

"We will." Nino said. "Anyway, back to work for me. Take care and tell Fuu-Kun I said high."

Yotsuba arrived home a few minutes later. The sun had started to set. She locked her bike up and jumped on her bed. She kicked her shoes off and waited. A few minutes after six, her phone started ringing. It was Fuutarou.

"Yes my love?" She answered with a sweet tone.

"Did you have a fun day?" He asked.

"Yep." Yotsuba sat up. "Went through my clothes and put all my exercize stuff in the basement." That reminded her, their sheets were in the drier. "Went to work, ran into Takeda of all people, shishishi, then stopped by Nino and Miku's shop and picked up those snacks you ordered without telling me."

"Speaking of food, what do you want for dinner?"

"You going to stop somewhere and get something? Fuutarou-Kun, that's very expensive of you." She teased.

"Do we have anything at the house?"

"No, I didn't have the chance to go grocery shopping."

"Then pick something cheap." Fuutarou demanded.

"Hmm...what is it I want?" The first image in her mind was one of Fuutarou laying down on their bed. "How about a nice romantic cup of ramen."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll be home in about twenty minutes."

"Alright, love you."

"I love you too."

Yotsuba made their bed and changed into her pajamas. She then opened the kitchen box and started going through it. She put things away and moved the largest table into the dining room. When Fuutarou arrived she greeted him with a kiss.

The two ate their food while casually chatting about their day. Yotsuba especially had fun talking about Natsumi and Kyoko, and speculating on Takeda's budding relationship with Itsuki. Fuutarou's job didn't have him dealing with people on such personal levels. It seemed boring, but he enjoyed having a quiet job that made good use of his intelligence.

After eating, Fuutarou jumped in the shower. Yotsuba passed the time by going through more of the boxes. So much of this stuff she didn't know what to do with. So, she gave up and started working on putting all the kitchen stuff away again.

"Don't worry about all this tonight." Fuutarou said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"It has to get done eventually." Yotsuba said.

"There'll be plenty of time to go through everything when I'm off for the weekend." Fuutarou kissed her neck. "Let's go and pick up where we left off last night."

"Hmm…" Yotsuba sighed in content. "Too tempting." She broke his grasp, spun around and pulled him into a kiss. "There is nothing I'd rather do."

They went into their bedroom and locked the door behind them. For the remainder of the night they stayed in bed, cuddling, having fun and making out whenever they needed a break. In the end, Yotsuba's eyes were glazed over again. She curled her body up as close to Fuutarou's as humanly possible and drifted off to sleep. She could get used to this lifestyle. As far as she was concerned this was perfection.

**AN: Such wholesomeness. These storytelling sensibilities are what really attracted me to this series and to Yotsuba in particular. Now, I think I'll be fine with Miku, Nino or Yotsuba winning in canon, but for my money, I think Yotsuba is the one with the most post-marriage potential (mostly in that her desires outside Fuutarou aren't set in stone like the others). That and my enjoyment of her quirks is why I chose her for this story. As a side note, my descriptions for their house and neighborhood are based on my sister's house because ...my sister and brother-in-law are like, the perfect life goals honestly.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I'm having way too much fun with this story. I'm just constantly coming up with things to do with the happy married couple as opposed to the dating ones. Maybe it's because it's easier to create believable points of conflict with married life than 5 iterations of Fuutarou x Quint help other Quints move on.**

Chapter 3: A Day in the Life of Fuutarou Uesugi

Day three of living in their new house as a married couple. Another day for work. Fuutarou awoke at the same time he always woke up. He had become a creature of habit after years of meticulous training to maintain his one-hundred-percent attendance at school and work. He tried to never take a sick day, even if he should. He always saved his vacation days for special occasions. His job paid more than enough to cover all his expenses. He had a great healthcare and retirement plan. It covered all the work benefits one could ask.

The only downside was that he worked ten hour shifts, but it was consistent. Eight a.m. to six p.m. Monday through Friday. He'd get an hour off for lunch from eleven to noon. It was very white collar grunt work. He was content with it at the moment, but wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to climb the corporate ladder. He often stressed about the possibility of losing his job. So, he strived to be the best worker in his division. He made himself indispensable. And he did so without having to kiss the bosses ass. He always quietly came to work, did his best, and then returned home to his wife.

Speaking of said wife, it was her day off. So, she was sleeping in. Fuutarou woke up at five-thirty and carefully freed himself from her arms as not to disturb her. When his feet touched the floor he looked back at her. He ran the back of his hand over her smooth skin. She was perfect. She was his savior. She was the one who made him complete. She was the one he loved more than anything in the world. The only thing he was worried about was that he wasn't giving her the love she deserved. But moments like this made him feel better. That perfect smiling face could only belong to someone who was perfectly happy.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. Unsatisfied with that, he kissed her lips. She still had the scent of the previous night's activities. It was a reminder that under the sheets she wasn't wearing anything.

He shook the thought from his head. It was always tempting. He could easily call into work sick and just spend the entire day with Yotsuba. He had to fight that urge every single day, ever since he got this job. That smile was his reward for his hard work. That's what he fought for. She spent enough time worrying about everything, she didn't need to worry about their finances. That was his job as the man of the house.

He went about the morning routine. He started up the coffee pot, ate a pastry for breakfast and then jumped in the shower. While he was in there, Yotsuba must have woken up. She came into the bathroom while he was washing up.

"Good morning." She said.

"Yotsuba." Fuutarou groaned.

"I didn't think you'd mind me coming in here." Yotsuba said. "I really had to pee."

"You should still knock." He said.

"Sorry." She snickered. "Mind if I join you." The offer was tempting, but he was already done. He answered by shutting off the shower and pulling a towel around himself. "Drat." She snapped her fingers.

"Maybe next time." He said as he towled himself off. He felt her eyes skimming over his body. He was much more in shape than he was when they first started dating. He wasn't going to win any awards or stand up to any underwear models, but he was still very attractive.

Fuutarou walked into the kitchen and started drinking his coffee. Yotsuba followed behind him and did the same. They didn't say anything. They didn't need to. They were perfectly content drinking their coffee and silence and shooting each other the occasional cute and flirty glare. It was a moment like this that made Fuutarou realize Yotsuba was the one he loved. She alone had the power to share a comfortable silence with him.

He got dressed while he finished up his coffee. Yotsuba changed into her day clothes at the same time. He wore one of his suits. She put on a green 428 shirt and overalls. She tied his tie for him while he put her favorite ribbon in her hair.

"Do you have to go to work?" She muttered.

"Not this again." He sighed.

"You're my husband." She fell into his arms and squeezed tight around him. "We just got married! Why can't we just spend one more day hanging out and doing fun stuff?"

"Will you cut that out!" He snapped and pulled her up by her bow.

"I'm sorry!" She cried. "I didn't mean to annoy you."

"Look we're both new to this whole being married and living together, thing." He started fixing her bow. "But I need, we need this job. Believe me, it's hard not taking advantage of my standing and abusing it for sick days where I just roll around in bed with you. But I need to stay diligent. And honestly, we need to be thankful for the time we do get and not ask for too much more. Otherwise we'd end up neglecting our other friends and hobbies."

"I know." Yotsuba pouted. "The same thing I hate about all this, is the thing that made me fall in love with you."

"It'll pass." Fuutarou said before kissing her. The kiss was long and full of passion. If Yotsuba didn't know any better, it was the type of heated kiss usually saved for the evening.

"Knock 'em dead at work darling." She gave him one last kiss on the cheek then stared into his eyes. He loved her eyes, and it made him think about how blue their kids' eyes would be.

Fuutarou left the car with Yotsuba so that she could go grocery shopping. He took his moped and arrived a few minutes later. The office was stuffy. With the same single-minded focus that made him one of the top students in the country, he worked. He read reports, responded to emails, typed up reports of his own, looked into different projects for his boss and did everything he could to keep from being distracted. The fewer distractions, the more he'd accomplish and the faster time would go.

"Yo, Uesugi-San." His desk neighbor got his attention. Tokoyami-San was one of the only people Fuutarou would call a work friend. Yotsuba had insisted on making friends with his co-workers. Being friendly was easy, actually becoming friends was hard. But it had been for the better. Yotsuba could never follow what Fuutarou was talking about when he would explain his job. She tried her damndest bless her heart. "It's about time for lunch."

"Hmm." He looked at his watch. Sure enough it was time for his lunch break.

He and Tokoyami ordered sandwiches from a shop down the street so that they didn't have to leave. They were joined by a few other people around the office. They talked about what they were working on until the subject of girls was brought up.

"Uesugi-San, you and Yotsuba-San just got married, right?" Tokoyami said.

"Yeah." He responded as he began to fondle his wedding band.

"Ooooh, I'm so jealous." Tokoyami said. "I barely even get the chance to meet girls anymore, let alone one as beautiful as her. If you don't mind me saying."

"I'm well aware of how attractive my wife is." Fuutarou teased.

"I remember when I got married." Sado-San said. He was an older man who had been with the company for over ten years. It took him half of that time to work his way up from the very bottom. Everything he knew, he knew thanks to this job. He wasn't like Fuutarou who was able to enter the company at such a high position. "It took a lot of work. We fought a lot. But that just made us stronger."

"We're still well into the honeymoon phase I guess." Fuutarou laughed. "We argue sometimes but have never really fought. She knows her mental limits, even if she still has a hard time knowing her physical limits."

"If I was married to such a pretty girl, I would find every excuse to stay home." Tokoyami said.

"She's beautiful, but that's not why we chose each other. She loved me even when I couldn't love myself. She and her sisters made me who I am today. They reminded me of my purpose and why I started studying so hard. They took this extraordinarily intelligent asshole and made him…..human."

"I think you two are going to last." Sado said. "From what you've told me, there's not really anyone who can compete with her except her sisters. And I would hope that would never happen."

"I can't imagine being with any other girl." Fuutarou said. He retold the story of how they first crossed paths again five years ago and how she was the first one to openly accept him out of the quintuplets. By the time he got to the interesting part of the story it was time to get back to work.

The following few hours flew by. Fuutarou wrapped up everything he needed to do and spent the last hour or two double checking his work. One of his co-workers had often joked that he should be a secretary or writer with how fast he could type. It wasn't actually his speed, it was the fact that he never had to stop.

"Clocking out?" Tokoyami asked as Fuutarou stood.

"It's that time." He said. "I'm going to go home before my wife thinks about cooking an actual meal."

"Is she a bad cook?"

"She's good with simple things like sandwiches or pizza. But I'm a better cook when it comes to most anything else." He stopped for a second. "Should probably grab a bottle of wine on my way home." Yotsuba was supposed to go grocery shopping. He hoped she didn't forget. But since wine wasn't on the list she probably wouldn't have even thought about it.

He noticed his hands were starting to cramp. It would happen every so often because of how much typing he did at his job. But usually they wouldn't start cramping until Thursday or Friday. It was only Tuesday. He wondered why they were cramping up so much sooner now than before. Then he remembered what he had been doing the last several nights and his face went red.

He stopped by the store and picked out a bottle of cheap wine. Even though he was getting the cheapest thing he could, he felt a piece of him die as he forked over the cash for it. He had to keep telling himself that he was doing it for Yotsuba. It was the only way to live with the guilt of buying so shamelessly.

When he arrived home, Yotsuba was still putting away groceries. It looked like she had put off the one thing she was supposed to do until the last minute. Not that it mattered so long as they could make something for dinner.

"Welcome home love." Yotsuba said as she stacked a box of cereal on the top shelf of the pantry.

"Thought you'd have taken care of all this long before I got home." Fuutarou said.

"Sorry, but I got distracted by this really cute documentary about wolves. Now I want a dog."

"That would be nice." He sighed. He was more of a cat person but he also hadn't actually ever had a pet. "I got us some wine." He said as he set the bottle on the counter.

"Oops." She blushed. "Um ...I did too." She pulled out a bottle from their otherwise vacant liquor cabinet.

"That's fine, more for later." He shook his head at first. Then he noticed the bottle. He grabbed it from her hands and examined it. His heart, and part of his mind broke when he saw the price tag.

"Figured any price would be worth it if we have fun together." Yotsuba blushed as she scratched the back of her head. Fuutarou didn't know whether to be guilty for being so stingy, or angry that she spent so much money on a bottle. His anger won out.

"Yotsuba." He restrained himself as he set the bottle down.

"Uh oh." Yotsuba knew what was coming and took a step back. He snatched her up by the ribbon in her hair.

"Why do you always buy the expensive stuff? It's not worth it and it tastes no different to me!"

"I'm sawry!" She whined. Having gotten it out of his system with the one scream, he set her down and started fixing the ribbon. She hung her head down and sniffled as tears formed in her eyes.

"I know we're well off Yotsuba." His voice started to level out. "But the best way to stay on top of things is to be responsible with our money. You never know when something is going to come up."

"I wasn't thinking." Yotsuba said as she wiped her face. "I'm sorry you had to settle for someone so impulsive and dumb."

"It's okay." Fuutarou said as he put his hands on her shoulders. "Just think things through. There's a lot of better ways to make me happy that don't cost money."

"Hmph." Her whole body perked up. She bit her lower lip and grinned. She looked so desirable when she started acting cute. For his own health he should probably write up some rules on when she was allowed to look flirty.

"I should probably start making dinner." He changed the subject before his face turned fully red. She grabbed his hand and started playing with it.

"Sure you don't want to do something else before you make food? Maybe something involving me on the kitchen counter." She looked smug and confident now that he was blushing. Just a minute ago she was sad because she thought he was mad. But he could never stay mad at that face.

"Not right now Yotsuba." He gave her a head pat and shoved her away.

He then put on an apron and started making a stir fry. All the while Yotsuba turned on the radio and danced around the kitchen singing. She was decent at singing so long as she wasn't drunk. She wasn't going to become an idol girl anytime soon but it still made Fuutarou happy to hear her voice.

Yotsuba did most of the talking while they ate. She mostly just blabbed about what kind of dog they might get someday. She also shopped around some potential names for the puppy. She liked the name Clover because some clovers had four leaves. Always fours with this girl. Four was her lucky number, and her birth number, and she considered herself lucky. She might be the only person in Japan so attached to that particular digit.

After dinner, Fuutarou cracked open the bottle of cheap wine. He figured he'd save the more expensive bottle for special occasions. He sat on the couch with Yotsuba, who was eating a pudding cup for desert.

"You know what Fuutarou-Kun, we should invite some of your work friends to go bowling."

"I don't like bowling though." He responded.

"Only because you suck at it." She snickered. "But nobody will care if there's something you're not good at so long as we have fun."

"We can have plenty of fun here." He said. Yotsuba contemplated his phrasing. She sucked on her spoon for a minute, unintentionally giving him bedroom eyes for a few seconds. She then shook her head.

"If we're going to have fun here than we need something more than just a TV and a game system." She said. "Like a pool table or something."

"Those are expensive."

"Than I'll save up my own money." She declared. "I'm the last person to call you a killjoy but it has been getting really lonely when I'm home alone with nothing to do. We have this house and plenty of friends but even if I invite them over there's not much to do."

"I understand." Fuutarou said as he cupped her cheek. "Try to get something cheaper than a pool table though. Would a poker set suffice?"

"I'll think about it." She rolled her eyes and trapped his hand between her cheek and shoulder.

"Ooh, that reminds me, my hands been cramping up and I blame you."

"Oh poor baby." She grabbed his hand and started molding it like dough. She set her empty pudding cup on the table and spun onto his lap. He pulled her into a delicate kiss. "I guess I'll give your hands a break."

"I don't know if I liked the way you said that." Fuutarou started to sweat.

"Shishishi." Yotsuba bit her bottom lip again and grabbed the bottom of her shirt.

In the throes of passion they barely made it back to the bedroom having hit every wall and piece of furniture along the way. Fuutarou passed out first. He fell asleep with Yotsuba wrapping herself around him from behind. As much fun as he always had with her, he was in desperate need of a break.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Halfway through writing this, I left for Kansas City. So, this chapter might be a little all over the place. I straight up forgot where I was going with everything and then my mood was way different and yeah. Still hope it's fluffy enough.**

Chapter 4: First Friday

Yotsuba awoke when a glint of sunlight struck her eye. She felt groggy and in a general bad mood. She literally woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Fuutarou was already gone for work. She had slept in and he let her. On one hand, she was thankful that he left her alone. On the other, she loved spending her mornings with him and seeing him off.

It was Friday. On Wednesday morning Fuutarou had woken up with a lot of cramps. Yotsuba had done her best to massage his muscles before work. She had done a fine job but after he got home that night he said something for the first time. "Not tonight."

He was sore. Yotsuba understood. She was a bit sore as well but her active lifestyle prepared her a lot better. They had gone so many years of their lives without being intimate with anyone. Then they did it every day- sometimes multiple times a day- for the first week and a half of their marriage. Yotsuba counted herself lucky that it took this long for it to take its toll on Fuutarou's body.

She knew the stint of chastity wouldn't last long. She also knew that it was payday, and even though Fuutarou would only have a week's worth of pay on account of their wedding and honeymoon, Yotsuba also got a decent paycheck. On top of that, Ichika had come back to town after a week of filming in Kyoto and coming over.

She counted these blessings. She knew girls who were way worse than she was. Some of them were related to her. She didn't like feeling like her default mood was anything less than boundless joy. Being anything other than happy was just exhausting for the young woman. Life's too short to be bitchy.

Before she could recompose herself her phone started ringing. She did not like that her first reaction was to groan in annoyance. She grabbed the device and saw that it was Ichika. She must be on her way.

"Hello?" Yotsuba answered.

"Yotsuba, I'm in your backyard let me in." Ichika responded.

"Shit." Yotsuba hissed as she jumped out of bed. She slept in way longer than she wanted to. She ran to the sliding glass door and saw Ichika standing in the backyard wearing a Miku wig. She quickly unlocked the door and let Ichika in. Once the celebrity was safe inside she removed the wig.

"Yotsuba-Chan!" Ichika embraced her sister. "You look like you just woke up."

"I did." Yotsuba face-palmed. "I gotta make some coffee. I should probably take a shower. Oof, you probably haven't eaten."

"It's fine." Ichika put a reassuring hand on her sister's shoulder. "I grabbed an espresso on the way here. I ate breakfast before I left. Just take care of yourself."

"Alright." Yotsuba walked over to her room to change out of her pajamas. She smelled good enough to get away with not showering so long as she wore perfume. "So how was Kyoto?"

"As awesome as ever." Ichika said.

"Really?" Youtsuba said as she picked out a shirt to wear. "You and I don't have much luck having peaceful trips in Kyoto."

"No but it's always life changing." Ichika said with a soft smile. "Fuutarou-Kun would agree."

"Yeah." Yotsuba sighed as she pulled her sports bra on.

"You been working out a lot?" Ichika asked.

"Every single day." Yotsuba said. "I even get Fuutarou to workout with me sometimes. Mostly on the weekends."

"And the evenings." Ichika smirked.

"Hah!" Yotsuba fake laughed.

"Not the reaction I was expecting." Ichika said.

"Well, we haven't done anything like that the last few days. And even when we do...I'm the one in control."

"Ooh, lucky boy." Ichika cooed.

"Lucky me that he basically lets me do whatever I want." Yotsuba said. "And that applies to everything. I can completely rearrange the house and he'd just shrug it off. So long as I don't do anything to really hurt him- which I would never dream of- or spend money on frivolous things, which I tend to do a lot- I'm golden."

"So, married life has been fun." Ichika nodded. "I'm glad."

"Well, I think we're still in that honeymoon phase but, maybe it really will last. We've only had one thing even remotely like a fight."

"Money related?"

"I went grocery shopping while he was at work a few days ago. I thought I'd surprise him by getting some really good wine for us. Well, he had the same idea and got cheap wine. Then he got angry that I spent money that didn't need to be spent."

"That's kinda dumb. What did you do?"

"Played it up, said sorry in a cute way while I teared up. He kinda apologized after that. Even when he gets angry he'll let it all out in one breath and then be back to his usual calm self."

"You let that boy get away with too much Yotsuba."

"I think he was more guilty than mad. We were both trying to be thoughtful, and I showed him up. He got a little depressed the next day when he found out I used my own money to get the wine."

"Damn right he should be." Ichika said.

"Still gotta keep him happy though. Mama needs her pool table." Yotsuba beamed.

"You know, if you want something so bad you can always ask your big sister."

"I wouldn't want to impose. I'd at least like to split the cost with whoever wants to help." Yotsuba said. "And I'd still want to let Fuutarou know ahead of time. Then I'd want to try to get everyone together."

"Yeah, speaking of that." Ichika leaned in. "I arrived late last night and slept in the old apartment."

"Nice." Yotsuba said. She and Ichika were the only ones to have moved out of their dad's old place. One by one they were all going their separate ways.

"Yeah, so what's going on with Itsuki and Takeda-Kun?"

"Shishishi." Yotsuba laughed. "I can see what's happening and they don't have a clue. But soon that trio will be down to two."

"Really?" Ichika's eyes widened.

"He is into her so hard and she's totally into him and doesn't even realize it. That girl is hopeless."

"If you were to ask me five years ago, I'd have thought Itsuki would be the last one to get into a relationship."

"She still might." Yotsuba said. "Nino has been talking to that Kisuke guy so much they might as well be dating. His friend Yoshi has been flirting really hard with Miku and she seems to be into it. I'm already married. All that's left is you."

"Yeah, can't really date with how much the spotlight is constantly on me." Ichika said. "But there is this one guy, he's really cute and works for the studio handling cameras."

"Have I met this guy?" It was a valid question since Yotsuba has often visited Ichika on set and even done temp work as her stunt double at one point.

"I don't think so. I met him less than a year ago. He's a lot of fun but I don't think anything is going to come from it."

"Well don't give up, and keep doing what you want." Yotsuba restated the advice that at one point inadvertently lead to grief for Miku and Ichika. A lot of time had passed since then. They were all different people now. Yotsuba especially was now no longer someone who ran from the past.

"The more successful I get the harder it will be to be close with anyone. That's just the nature of the business."

"Well no matter so long as you want it. I'll support you no matter what." Yotsuba brushed her legs off.

The conversation died down and Yotsuba did her workout. Ichika did some exercise with her and the two talked about work and other current events. When it was almost time for Fuutarou to get off work, Yotsuba ordered food and split the bill with Ichika. The food arrived right before Fuutarou did.

"Perfect timing darling." Yotsuba said as she continued setting the table.

"Hey Fuutarou-Kun."Ichika said as she gave her brother-in-law a hug. "How was work?"

"It was pretty good." Fuutarou said.

"Awesome." Yotsuba said.

"Did you just get done with a workout?" Fuutarou asked.

"Yes and no. Finished a while ago but haven't bothered changing." Yotsuba said. She started rubbing her toned stomach, bit her bottom lip and flashed him some bedroom eyes. "You don't mind do you." It was more a statement and not a question. And one Fuutarou responded to by loosening his tie.

"Well, don't mind me." Ichika said. "If you two need ...I don't know….. Ten to fifteen minutes…. I'll go and call someone back."

"Oof." Yotsuba giggled. "We're not going to ditch out on you….. At least not until bedtime."

"Can we not talk about that stuff?" Fuutarou said.

"You're so freaking cute when you're embarrassed." Yotsuba jumped over and kissed him on the cheek. She grabbed his tie and undid it. She then pulled on the fabric to force him into a kiss. Fuutarou blushed and smiled when the kiss broke. "There's my smile for the day."

Fuutarou and Ichika sat at the table. Yotsuba stood behind her lover and dug her nails into his shoulders. She worked wonders, massaging him and making him feel good while he ate. Yotsuba's plate was next to him and she'd take a bite after every few seconds of moulding her husband's flesh.

"So, Fuutarou-Kun, you look quite well." Ichika said.

"I've been rather happy and healthy." He said.

"Mmhmm ...Yotsuba and I were talking earlier. She hasn't been keeping you up too late has she?" The older sister winked and he became acutely aware of how handsy Yotsuba had gotten.

"I can hardly sleep without her anymore." Fuutarou admitted.

"Tell her how great I am." Yotsuba whispered.

"Trying to brag?"

"As far as I'm concerned, you're my trophy husband." Yotsuba snickered.

"I think you settled." He said. "As far as looks go anyway."

"Yeah, maybe, but I don't care for looks. You're handsome enough. But I didn't marry you for your face. I'm not that shallow and neither are you." She tilted his head up and slowly captured her lips.

"You two are so adorable." Ichika smiled.

"Ichika said she talked to Itsuki last night. Apparently, I was right."

"Is that so?" He said. "I'll have to ask Takeda."

"Oh like he's going to be any more open than she is." Yotsuba rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I'm going to go take a shower." She whispered. She left the room with a sway of her hips. She turned back once to wink at him.

Yotsuba suspected that Fuutarou wouldn't join her, not if it meant leaving Ichika alone. She wondered if she was ever going to get a moment alone with him this weekend. It was frustrating and petty but she loved him too much to express those feelings of discontent. Her feelings were temporarily alleviated when the door opened and Fuutarou walked in.

"Joining me?" Yotsuba asked.

"Don't get your hopes up." Fuutarou said. "Is that alright?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "It's not like I'm one of those clingy girls with a one-track mind. However, I do miss you in a way."

"Well, you and Ichika will have the room tonight. I'll be on the couch but, Ichika does always go to sleep early and sleeps heavily." He let his voice stagger, letting his intent get across.

"You don't have to." Yotsuba said. "I'd be absolutely content just cuddling and kissing you while you're on the couch. But I swear, next time ...I'm not going to stop." It sounded like a threat. A steamy, heart throbbing, tongue stopping, wonderful threat.

"Well, we're going to watch some movies for the rest of the night." Fuutarou said as he left. "Take your time."

"I will." Yotsuba whispered to herself. She let all her worries and aches wash down the drain. Over the last few days she had learned how to separate her wants from her needs. She needed things like Fuutarou's smile. She craved his gratitude. She needed his support. She needed to feel like she was pulling her weight and supporting him. Everything else was just a bonus.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: It took me forever to think of something to do with this chapter. I wanted something involving Ichika because of the previous chapter but nothing really came to mind.**

Chapter 5: Teasing

The day had started off fine all things considered. Fuutarou couldn't help but feel a little bit grumpy. He lived for Saturdays. It was the one day of the week where he could sleep in as long as he wanted and stay up as late as he wanted. It was the one day every week he could spend alone with his darling wife. But this Saturday was different.

They were with Ichika, and that limited the things they could do. For the most part, Fuutarou was happy. He loved all five of the Nakano Quintuplets. And of the four he didn't marry, Ichika always had a special place. They had a sense of older-sibling camaraderie. They both dedicated themselves to their work and to support the people they loved. And of all five sisters,

Ichika was the one who probably had the best head on her shoulders. She was naturally more intelligent and had a better memory than any of the sisters-though those measurements were all relative. She had the clearest plan for her future. She had the best means to achieve those goals. She didn't want to let any boy-or girl- or kid get in the way of her career. She wanted to be special in that way. And she was.

But as much as Fuutarou loved and respected her, he was still firmly in the honeymoon phase. And anyone who got in the way of him getting alone time with Yotsuba wasn't going to be fully in his good graces. He had to play it cool though. Ichika and Yotsuba together like this, was a pair custom made to get him all flustered.

"Ooh Yotsuba, you should try this on." Ichika pulled out a skimpy looking dress from the rack. Clothes shopping was never one of Fuutarou's favorite things to do. But the sisters had insisted on visiting the mall. He'd be fine indulging Yotsuba, as he had in the past. But he saw through their intent. They were trying to embarrass him in public.

"Fuutarou-Kun." Yotsuba said as she emerged from the changing room with more skin exposed than not. "How do I look?"

"Well…" It was a trap. He could get flustered, lose his cool and make her happy at the expense of his composure. He could play it cool and make it look like he didn't find her attractive. Or he could compliment her while keeping his cool, and risk her doing something more drastic that could embarrass the both of them. And the worst part was, she wouldn't be doing this if Ichika wasn't around. "I think you would look better in something more modest."

"Hmph." Ichika pouted. Yotsuba just blushed and looked the other way. "The nerve on you. Your wife gets all dolled up and you tell her that she shouldn't even bother?"

"Well when you leave so little to the imagination, it has no effect on someone who doesn't need that imagination." Fuutarou noted. Yotsuba's face went red and she nervously covered her cleavage.

"You're no fun Fuutarou-Kun." Ichika huffed.

"Not my fault that your idea of fun involves public embarrassment."

"I just want you to appreciate all the work Yotsuba does for you!" Ichika raised her voice.

"It's fine." Yotsuba said as she came back out of the changing room.

"She always wears cute outfits and works out to keep her amazing figure and has even tried learning how to cook all for you. And you can't even be bothered to get flustered when she's being flirty."

"I'm not as easy to embarrass as she is."

"Hey." Yotsuba dejected.

"And how would you like it if I just shouted your name?" Fuutarou threatened. Ichika was wearing a wig that made her look more like Miku. But she was still very famous for her face. Anyone actually looking for her would see her right away. Even if she tried playing it off, they'd still want to haggle her. Yotsuba had dealt with her fanboys plenty of times to confirm that much.

"You wouldn't dare." Ichika hissed.

"Now now you two." Yotsuba got in between the bickering pair. "Fuutarou-Kun, why don't we try on some matching sweaters?"

"Yeah, let's go."

"Ichika, you go and just ...find whatever you want." Yotsuba said as she dragged Fuutarou away. As soon as they were out of earshot from Ichika Yotsuba started giggling. "You look so cute when you're jealous."

"Jealous?" Fuutarou raised an eyebrow.

"What else would you call that?" She asked as she started looking through clothes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. How does bickering with Ichika mean I'm jealous?"

"Admit it, if she wasn't here, if she didn't drag us here…" Yotsuba leaned in closer. "You'd have no problem telling me how amazing I look ...and feel." She pecked him on the lips, sending his blood to his cheeks. "You always try to act tough around my sisters but I see right through you."

"Am I that easy?" Fuutarou scratched his head.

"Ichika might not be able to tell, but I can tell you were trying really hard not to gawk when I was wearing that dress."

"It's not like I'd do anything more than blush sense we're in public." Fuutarou said.

"Yeah...I wouldn't want you to act all lovey dovey like that either, but you can still appreciate the view."

"It's not my appreciation I'm worried about."

"You have nothing to worry about there darling." Yotsuba assured.

"Still, you never know, I'd rather not have to deal with some nosey asshole hitting on you." Fuutarou said. "And odds of that happening triple with Ichika around."

"I understand." Yotsuba said. "Damn, they don't have them in your size."

"We'll just have to custom order one." Fuutarou said.

"Are you sure?" Yotsuba said. "It's not a big deal. I just thought it would be cute. I don't want you to spend the extra money on a sweater like that just for my sake."

"Well, if it's for you, I'll wear it more than any other sweater I own." A foolish statement since he didn't own any sweaters like that. "Besides, if it's your money...I guess it's okay to spend it on whatever you want."

"Fuutarou-Kun...I don't know whether to be happy about this, or pouty that you still managed to be stingy about it."

"One of us has to keep our finances situated." Fuutarou said. "Just because we have the extra money…"

"Doesn't mean we should spend it on whatever we want." She finished his sentence. "You never know when something is going to happen."

"Yotsuba…" Fuutarou reached for his wife's head. "Your bow is crooked."

"Oh, thanks." She smiled and blushed. "I wish you had a tie I could fix. You always wear those snazzy button ups but then never wear a jacket or tie to complement it."

"I don't like being overdressed on my day off." Fuutarou said. "That reminds me, I need to do laundry when we get back home."

"I'll take care of it." Yotsuba turned and started walking away.

"Ichika is right about one thing."

"And what's that?" She inquired.

"You do a lot for me. I know I don't always say it, but I appreciate it all. I admire that far more than your looks."

"So.." She stopped and posed all cute like, twisting her body to put her chest and butt in view while her finger hovered by her mouth. "Would you still love me the same if I wasn't pretty?"

"That's not a fair question."

"You could just say yes." She huffed.

"What if I asked you that question."

"I would say yes." She responded. "I don't care about looks. If you looked completely different you'd still be a super genius."

"That's easy to say when we're both decent looking."

"Oh, so I'm just decent looking now?" She teased.

"I'm decent looking." Fuutarou scowled. He had fallen for her trick after all. Now he was all flustered and embarrassed with no course of action that would get him out of the hole.

"You're cute." Yotsuba said. "And I do think attraction is important. As much as I wish I could trade in my food looks for your brains, if that were the case the whole time, we wouldn't have met the way we did. We wouldn't be together. And I do think in order to be happy together there should be some attraction."

"I guess." Fuutarou shrugged. "I know some people who would disagree."

"Well, there's all sorts of people attracted to all sorts of things. Like, I'm just glad you're not short and fat. Miku on the other hand is a lot nicer with her taste and finds people like that attractive so long as they also have beards. Then you have Nino who only looks at the face and hair and doesn't care about anything else."

"I guess I just like soft people." Fuutarou said. "I never liked girls with harsh eyes."

"I know." Yotsuba sighed. "We should find Ichika and head out."

It didn't take them long to locate Ichika and head out of the store. They walked around the mall for a little bit longer. As they approached the movie theater in the mall, Yotsuba spotted something and pulled the other two behind a kiosk.

"What is it?" Ichika asked.

"Over there." She whispered. "Itsuki is here with Takeda-Kun." Sure enough, Itsuki and Takeda were walking into the movie theater together. The youngest quint looked really nervous. Takeda on the other hand, was the embodiment of confidence.

"We should say high." Ichika said.

"No." Fuutarou stopped her by grabbing her arm. "Leave them be."

"Yeah, it's taken a lot of time to get Itsuki to come out of her shell." Yotsuba whispered. "I wouldn't want to spoil her fun. I'll mention it to her later though."

"We'd have a better chance of me asking Takeda." Fuutarou noted.

"Let's get out of here before they notice us." Yotsuba sighed.

"Or before anyone notices us for that matter." Fuutarou pointed to one of the posters. "Ichika might be wearing a wig, but the face is still the same."

"Oh so now you're being considerate." Ichika teased.

"I'm always considerate." Fuutarou responded.

They managed to leave the mall without any hassle. Fuutarou drove the girls back to the house. Ichika loaded up the things she bought into her bags. As she continued packing her things it dawned on the pair that she'd be leaving again soon.

"I guess you can't stay a little longer." Yotsuba said.

"Nah, I gotta get back home. I'll be around for a while before I hit the road to do another round of promotional interviews. Feel free to drop by the condo if you're ever up in Aoyama."

"Will do." Yotsuba said.

"Little too rich for my taste." Fuutarou teased. Yotsuba elbowed him in the side.

"Thanks for having me over." Ichika said. Yotsuba stayed outside with her while she waited for her cab. Meanwhile Fuutarou started on dinner and turned on the radio. Yotsuba joined him several minutes later.

"It's a shame she didn't stay for dinner." Fuutarou said.

"Maybe she just didn't want your cooking." Yotsuba teased. "Too poor for her taste."

"That's her loss."

"You were pretty mean to her."

"It's all in good fun. And she teased me first."

"That doesn't make it nice. But honestly, she probably missed the feel of her own bed."

"She spent a lot of money on that condo and that furniture. Then she barely gets to use it."

"She uses it a lot more than you'd think. She does a lot of her filming in Tokyo anyway. It's only when she's filming on location that she sleeps in her trailer."

"That's good. How about you? Can you imagine being away from the house for that long?"

"So long as I still get to be with you, I don't care where we're sleeping." Yotsuba responded by pulling him into a hug. The two started drifting back and forth to the music.

"I really do love you, you know that right?" Fuutarou said.

"You wouldn't have bought a ring otherwise." Yotsuba said. "And I love you more than anything in the world ...for now."

"For now?" Fuutarou raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we're going to have kids someday...right?"

"Right...someday." He said with a nod. He really did, but he was so nervous about the costs. He'd probably always feel that way. But if he had Yotsuba, and her family by his side, he'd figure things out if something happened before he was completely ready. "Not too soon though." He teased.

"Don't keep me waiting for too long." Yotsuba whispered into his ear. It was at that point that Fuutarou remembered. It was a Saturday. And unlike the start of the day, it was just the two of them, alone.

"I won't." He said as he pulled her into a kiss.

**AN: I do want to do a bit where Ichika gets recognized, but I want to save it for something a little more dramatic than what I ended up brainstorming here.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: This is going to be a two-parter. As the title suggests, this is going to be Yotsuba's side up to a certain point. Next chapter will pick up from where Fuutarou leaves and carry through the rest of the day. **

Chapter 6: Sick Day Part 1: Yotsuba's side

The morning did not begin pleasantly. Yotsuba awoke far before her alarm. It wasn't the well-rested feeling she was used to. Instead, it was a woozy, nauseous feeling. She started coughing. Her stomach began to churn. She felt something coming up. She bolted to the bathroom, flocked on the light and barely made it in time.

She tried her best to keep it down. Fuutarou had to go to work in a few hours. She didn't want to bother him with something like this. She'd go on a run to the hospital. That was always her plan anytime she got remotely sick. Her father was one of the head doctors after all. He'd take care of her.

She just ...had to ...keep it down. She couldn't keep it down. She began getting legitimately worried. If Fuutarou found out he'd worry about her. He'd probably even stay home and take care of her like a gentleman. He would definitely be weary about taking her to a hospital. His way of dealing with sickness was to power through it with as little medicine as possible.

As much as having him wait on her hand and foot was tempting, she would feel way worse than any sickness could ever make her feel if she dragged him down with her. What if he got sick? What if he was already getting sick? The thought made her vomit even more.

She couldn't help but groan in misery. She took some toilet paper to clean her chin. She became acutely aware of just how icy the tile floor was. She pressed her head against the floor and it actually felt good.

"You okay?" Fuutarou asked as he walked in. She wanted to lie. She wanted to tell him she was hot in that room and just wanting to cool off. She wanted to ease his mind and tell him everything was alright. But she was a terrible liar. He would see through any and all deception.

"I'm fine." She groaned. Yotsuba was, unsurprisingly, not smart enough to remember how bad she was at lying. And was unsurprisingly the least convincing human being in the world. Her assurance that she was fine sounded more like a declaration that the world would end.

"You're not fine." Fuutarou said. He knelt down and lifted her head up. He took some toilet paper and wiped her mouth. He then put the back of his hand on her forehead. "You are burning up."

"You always think I'm hot." Yotsuba tried to joke.

"Not funny." Fuutarou said. "This is serious."

"Don't worry about me." Yotsuba pleaded. "I'll ride up to the hospital while you're at work."

"You're not going to ride up anywhere!" Fuutarou shouted. "Look, hopefully it's just a fever. If you're still sick tomorrow I'll take you to the hospital myself. But today, I'll just stay home and take care of you the best I can."

"Please don't." Yotsuba said. "It'll make me feel even more sick if you have to miss work to take care of me."

"I'm sure they'll understand. Besides, aren't you the one who always wants me to stay at home?"

"Not like this!" She cried. "If you're going to be home, I want to be able to do stuff. I want you to stay home to take me out and make love and all that honeymoon loveliness. Not play nurse."

"Well I'm not leaving you here alone."

"Just, call Raiha and see what she's doing."

"She has school today." Fuutarou pinched the bridge of his nose. "But maybe she can come by for a little bit. I'm pretty sure Nino is off today so I'll call her. Just go lay back down." She tried to get up but her legs felt cramped. Fuutarou caught her before she fell back to the floor. "You're always finding ways to stretch yourself thin." He whispered.

Yotsuba enjoyed the brief moments in Fuutarou's arms. She listened to his heart beat. It was disappointing to feel a calm beat come from his chest. He was worried, but knew she'd be alright. She blushed as he tucked her in bed and kissed her forehead. It was tearing her heart in two. Her better judgement continued to win out but deep inside she wanted nothing more than to cuddle with him all day. But then, she'd end up getting him sick too.

She could hear the faint sounds of Fuutarou carrying on a conversation in the other room. It was a little insulting to be honest. She wasn't some kid that couldn't take care of herself. Then again, with this fever, maybe it wasn't so bad to have someone waiting on you. And it'd be better to be someone with time off rather than someone who had a steady job that needed him.

"Raiha is on her way." Fuutarou said. "She's going to swing by the pharmacy and grab some medicine on her way here. Then she has to go to school."

"Okay." Yotsuba sniffled. She grabbed a kleenex and sneezed.

"I also talked to Miku." He continued as he handed her a glass of orange juice and set a bin by the bed. "Nino is off work but sleeping. Mku is going to tell her what's going on. Knowing her she'll insist on taking you to the hospital. Or barring that, come here to play nurse for you."

"Thank you."

"The bin is for puke by the way."

"I figured."

"Alright, I'm going to head out. You're fine until Raiha gets here right?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me. Have a successful day at work." She gave him a smile. He bent over and kissed her forehead again and then rested his forehead on hers.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." She whispered back.

He left right after that. Yotsuba was only alone for a few minutes. But those minutes were deafly quiet. The only noises were a ticking clock and the occasional sniffle from her nose. Yotsuba had no appetite. Even the orange juice, usually her favorite drink, tasted bitter in her mouth. She hated being sick. She hated being bedridden. There was so much she wanted to do today too. She wanted to go for a run. She was going to see if there were any kids on the soccer field. She was going to hang out with Itsuki when she got off work. And now she was stuck at home feeling miserable and congested.

"Yotsuba-Ni-Chan!" Raiha called as she opened the door. She entered the room and rolled her eyes at how pathetic Yotsuba looked. "Feeling any better?"

"No." Yotsuba whined.

"Aww, I brought you some medicine." Raiha said as she took a seat on the bed. Yotsuba sat up so she could drink the cherry-flavored elixr. It tasted bad going down but Yotsuba stomached it. "I can't believe my brother. Leaving you home alone at a time like this." She shook her head.

"I'm the one who insisted he go to work." Yotsuba admitted as she curled up into a ball.

"But aren't you always complaining about not spending enough time with him?"

"Well…" Yotsuba laughed. "You'll understand when you're older and find a boy you love."

"I don't know." Raiha said.

"Do you have a boy you like?" Yotsuba asked.

"No." Raiha scoffed. "I um…" She began fidgeting with her fingers. "No." She shook her head.

"Well now you have me curious." Yotsuba teased.

"It's...I'll just say that ...I've been doing a lot of thinking about that. Is it weird to not ever find a guy you like at my age?"

"Could be." Yotsuba shrugged. "But who cares if you're a little weird."

"Maybe it would be easier if I was beautiful like you." Raiha sighed.

"Don't be down on yourself." Yotsuba said.

"I'm not. I'm not a socially inept loser like my brother was at my age. And unlike you, I'm a straight A student. No offense."

"None taken." Yotsuba giggled. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be getting to school?"

"It's alright if I'm a little late. My homeroom teacher loves me and will understand." She bragged. "Anyway, I'll swing by after school with Itsuki-Chan."

"Mmm, I don't know." Yotsuba said. "Nino is already coming by. I don't want to get everybody sick."

"Well let me know when you feel better." Raiha said as she scooted off the bed.

"It was good seeing you again." Yotsuba said.

And with that, Raiha was gone. Part of Yotsuba already missed the younger girl's company. But she knew it was a hard life for her. She had school, a part time job, and her own social life with friends. The only one that got to see her with anything approaching regularity was Itsuki. And that was because Itsuki worked at the same highschool they had all gone to.

Over the next hour Yotsuba threw up two more times. Her body felt so dehydrated and deflated she ended up passing out. By the time she woke up, the aroma of pricey shampoo broke through the congestion in her nose. Nino was sitting in a chair listening to music on her laptop. Yotsuba tried sitting up, and got her sister's attention.

"You're awake." Nino said as she took the headphones off.

"Yeah." Yotsuba stretched her body.

"Don't exert yourself." Nino said as she closed the laptop and set it down.

"Jesus Nino, I'm just stretching."

"Hold still." She took something out of her purse. "Say ahh."

"AHH." Yotsuba's mouth hung open and Nino examined it before sticking a thermometer into it.

"When it beeps, tell me what it says." Nino stated as she stood up. "Have you eaten anything?"

"Nothing. I don't even feel hungry."

"I'll make you some soup." Nino left the room. A few minutes later the thermometer started beeping. Yotsuba took it out and read it. Thirty-seven-point-five degrees celsius. A mild fever. Nino entered the room a few minutes later. Yotsuba groaned as she was forced to unfurl the blankets in order to eat.

"Thirt-seven and a half degrees." Yotsuba stated.

"Not too bad." Nino said. "Not hospital worthy...probably."

"Yeah, it'll pass." Yotsuba took a sip of chicken noodle soup. The texture of the broth didn't sit right with her. It tasted good, but it hit her stomach like a brick. Absolutely no appetite was certainly one of the worst parts about being sick. No wonder her body felt sore and deflated.

"When was the last time you had a decent meal?"

"Yesterday for lunch. Come to think of it, I think I started feeling sick last night." A dreadful thought crossed her mind. "Oh no. Fuutarou and I...we...well ...you know...if I got him sick and then insisted he work and he didn't tell me so I wouldn't worry…"

"Stop." Nino held her hand up. "If he got sick that's his own problem. It's not like you purposely got him sick. And it's especially his fault if he's trying to power through it."

"You're right." Yotsuba lamented. "I wonder what got me sick."

"It's just that time of year. Miku was sick a few days ago."

"Is that so. First I'm hearing about it."

"Nothing serious. Just a mild cough. But when you work with food...yeah I made her stay home and she ended up visiting papa."

"I wonder if I should have done the same."

"Possibly." Nino nodded. "You've been puking. Miku didn't."

"Hmm, that is strange. We've always had a weak immune system but I've never vomited out of the blue like that."

"I…" Nino hesitated. "This is so awkward to even think about. There might be something more to that. Yotsuba, when was the...last time you had um...your period."

"Same time as usual. It's about due, same as yours and Itsuki's." Yotsuba thought for a moment.

"Okay well, do you and Fuu-Kun…." Her face turned bright red. Yotsuba understood what she might be getting at.

"You think I'm pregnant?" Yotsuba asked.

"No, just...maybe. It's a possibility." Nino said.

"You're right about that." Yotsuba sighed. "We haven't exactly been trying, but we're not shying away from it either. I try to get it in every night and well, not a fan of condoms."

"I REALLY don't need that information Yotsuba!" Nino raised her voice. "What if you were pregnant?"

"I'd...I think about it a lot you know. Kinda have to when you...you know. I'd be worried but also happy. I'm ready. More than ready to have kids. I'm just not sure Fuutarou-Kun would share my excitement."

"Stingy bastard better at least pretend for your sake." Nino huffed. "I did grab a pregnancy test while I was out."

"Okay, let me see it." Yotsuba took the test from Nino and then stumbled into the bathroom to use it. A bit of excitement filled her heart. She began to think that this was it. She thought of some fun ways to tell Fuutarou if it turned out positive. Her heart raced as she handed the test back to Nino and sat down to await the results.

"Yotsuba...it's negative." Nino said.

"Oh." Yotsuba gave a heavy sigh and curled up into a ball.

"Is that a relieved sigh or a disappointed sigh?" Nino asked.

"I'm just typical run of the mill sick. What do you think?" She looked over to Nino. There wasn't a trace of judgement in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I might have gotten your hopes up." Nino sighed.

"You did nothing wrong. It was a possibility." Yotsuba said. "I think I'm going to lay back down." She ducked under the covers.

"Let me know if you need anything." Nino said as she put the headphones back on. She noted that Yotsuba had only taken a few spoonfuls of soup. Yotsuba's head hurt. Her stomach felt like it was made of lead. And the one thing that would make this sickness worth it, wasn't happening. And that feeling, it was a feeling of powerlessness, not a feeling of longing, that made her want to cry.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: I know these always have typos and stuff because I'm not good at proofreading. But I've been having computer problems and wrote this using my phone so it might have more errors than usual.

Chapter 7: Sick Day Part 2: Fuutarou's side

Fuutarou had never really been in this situation before. Sure, Yotsuba and the other girls had gotten sick, but he was not really around for that. Anytime he or Raiha would be sick they would just stay home and take care of each other. He felt uncomfortable leaving Yotsuba alone. Maybe he should have asked Nino to take her to the hospital. Though, that probably wouldn't help matters.

He was working a lot slower. Occasionally he would check the time and his progress and see that he was not reaching his usual quota. He would rush through things to try making up for loss time but every time he would think back on Yotsuba. Was she okay? What could have made her sick? How long would it last? Was she really okay with him going to work? What if it got worse?

"Everything alright Uesugi-San?" Sado-San walked by on his way to lunch.

"What clued you in?" Fuutarou asked.

"You're not diligently typing at your keyboard." The older man noted. Fuutarou looked down. He silently cursed himself. He had stopped typing again.

"It's my wife." Fuutarou admitted.

"Ooh, did Yotsuba-San keep you up all night?" Takoyami interrupted.

"Does he look tired?" Sado asked.

"I've seen him sleep with his eyes open. I can never tell." Takoyami responded.

"Well, seems to me that you two had a fight." Sado inferred. "And a pretty nasty one judging by your expression."

"It wasn't a fight. She's sick."

"How bad is it?" Takoyami asked.

"I don't know. She was just running a fever and vomiting this morning. Her sister Nino is taking care of her but still ...this is the first time she's been sick since we got married."

"Ha." Sado started to bellow.

"Wait, but you've only been married a month now." Takoyami scratched his head.

"Here for a second you had me think she was in the hospital." Sado continued to muse. "Being worried about fevers is something parents do for their kids."

"She is such a child sometimes." Fuutarou defended. He didn't like being teased by his older co-workers. It just put him in a competitive mood.

"She's still an adult. And you said so yourself, that her sister is with her. Those Nakano Quints are a tight nit nigh impenetrable group from what you told me. She'll be fine."

"You said Nino is with her, right?" Takoyami asked.

"Yeah." Fuutarou said.

"Is she the one that's single?"

"Sort of?" Fuutarou shrugged. "Either way I'm not hooking you up with any of my in-laws."

"Aww but Uesugi-San, then we'd really be like brothers. Can I at least go home with you after work to meet her?"

"Takoyami-Kun, don't pester him over such frivolous things." Sado said. "Are you coming to lunch?"

"No, I've fallen behind on my usual quota. I'm going to work through my usual break." Fuutarou said as he started typing again.

"Don't work yourself too hard. Wouldn't want you passing out or getting sick." Takoyami said.

They were right. He should eat something. But the thought of food made him think about Yotsuba. She hadn't eaten breakfast and likely had no appetite on account of her sickness. On top of that she hadn't eaten much of anything for dinner the previous night either. Was that why she was sick? Or was that a symptom? How had he not noticed? Why didn't he see it coming? Was he that tired the night before? That's what bothered him the most.

Within the next hour his stomach was growling. Every rupture of his stomach made him feel bad about Yotsuba more than himself. He smacked himself in the face to focus on his work. Food was the least of their worries. Yotsuba wouldn't complain. She was too much of a sweetheart to make him feel bad about something she'd likely blame herself for. It's one thing they absolutely did have in common. They both had an emptiness that made them blame themselves anytime things didn't go their way. But they were married now. They were supposed to fill each other up.

The day was long and arduous. Far and away this was the worst day Fuutarou ever had at his job. Part of him wanted to work overtime to make up for lost time. But he knew he couldn't. He wanted to see his wife's beaming face. He longed for her infectious joy. He wanted to be the one who brought that back from her miserable illness.

When he finally got off work he checked his phone. He had messages telling him Yotsuba was alright. But he also had one from Itsuki asking if they could talk. He responded to it before driving home. If it was important, he was going to call her when he got home. Then she messaged him that she'd rather talk about it in person. He went ahead and gave her permission to swing by.

He arrived home and rushed inside. Nino was in the living room on her laptop. Yotsuba was sleeping soundly in bed. Nino has placed a wet washcloth on her head as she slept. The room was also relatively clean. Nino must have straightened up to pass the time.

"How was work?" Nino asked.

"It was alright." Fuutarou sighed. He bent over and kissed Yotsuba on the cheek. "Thank you for coming by on such short notice."

"It's no problem." Nino said. "I kinda miss taking care of everybody."

"You all did a good job taking care of each other."

"But Yotsuba always pushes herself the hardest." Nino sat down by Yotsuba and started gently rubbing her face. "You know she works herself to death just for you right?"

"What do you mean?" Fuutarou asked. "I know she works hard at everything she does but, part time at a florist and some community volunteer stuff. How is that for me."

"She loves you. Like nobody I know. She knows that you want to be the one working and paying bills. She doesn't want any more out of you than that. She told me herself that she's been doing a lot of odd jobs for people so she can get what she wants without burdening you."

"We're supposed to be fair. I work so she doesn't have to. She takes care of the house, chips in where she can and then occupies her time so she can just stay active." Fuutarou explained.

"She wants more than just to support you. We all want to support you. We're all family. She wants so much more than that and she feels like she has to earn it for herself."

"Like the pool table she's been clamoring about?"

"That's one example." Nino said. "But maybe you should stop dwelling on what she wants, and start thinking about why she wants it."

"That's easy. It's because she loves me. Because of everything I've done for her."

"There's something in between those two notions. You're going to have to figure this out on your own though. I doubt you'll ever get a straight answer out of her. I only figured it out after having lived with her for over twenty years. Let's see if the man she chose to live more than anyone in the world can figure it out even sooner."

"Is that a challenge?" Fuutarou grinned. The conversation was interrupted by someone opening the door.

"Uesugi-Kun?" Itsuki whispered as she stepped in. "Nino?"

"I guess I should get dinner started." Nino said.

"Yes please." Itsuki nodded.

"You don't have to." Fuutarou said.

"It'll probably take both of us now that this meat bun monster is here." Nino teased as she walked into the kitchen.

"Hey." Itsuki pouted.

"So, What is it you want?" Fuutarou asked.

"A drink to start off with would be nice."

"Is that it?" Fuutarou groaned. "Just came here to drink?"

"You could be nicer about it you know." Itsuki huffed. Fuutarou's nostrils flared and Itsuki's face softened. "Let's go out back for a minute." She said. On their way out she got a mug and poured herself some coffee Nino had prepared.

The sun had already gone down by this point. It was a half moon night. The autumn breeze gave a sharp chill to the air. Itsuki's hair had grown back to full length since the wedding. She adjusted her glasses and looked out into the stars. Fuutarou was already trying to decipher what she could possibly want.

"How are things at home?" Fuutarou broke the silence.

"Going good I guess. I'm hardly there between school and work and…." She trailed off.

"You know, when Ichika was in town, we went to the mall."

"Really?" She started to show her nervousness.

"Tell me….is this about Takeda?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"It's been obvious since before the wedding." Fuutarou said.

"That's the thing...I don't know." Itsuki admitted as she hung her head down. "Is this love or is it just another familial relationship like ours? Does Takeda really feel that way or is this how he treats everyone close to him?"

"I could easily tell you that he does. But you'd have no reason to believe I wasn't just making you feel better. I guess rather than scrupulously thinking everything over, there are things that are better learned by doing." He used her own words against her. It certainly lightened the mood.

"I'm beginning to understand how everyone else felt about you." Itsuki laughed.

"Weren't you in the same boat?"

"With you?" She shook her head. "Maybe I thought so a little back then. But I had nothing to compare it to. It was just a school girl crush. It was never as deep as the others. That would explain why I got over it so quickly."

"Yet here you are asking me if you and Takeda would work out."

"I don't want to deal with a broken heart. I don't want to cry like Miku and Nino did when you picked Yotsuba. I don't want to shelter myself the way Ichika did."

"Well maybe that sort of thing will make you stronger. Yotsuba and I….we got lucky. Simple as that. If you and Takeda don't work out, you could always date one of your students after they graduate."

"Ew no, I know I want to be like Mom but I'm not going to follow her that far." She blushed.

"I'm saying the four of you have options. Only thing holding Ichika back is work. Only thing holding Miku and Nino back is themselves. And right now the only thing holding you back is that fact that you're a socially awkward hot mess of a woman."

"Why you…" She growled.

"You also happen to be my best friend." Fuutarou said. "If I were to make a list of the people I trust most you'd be in third place behind Yotsuba and Raiha. Takeda would be fourth. So know this, that no matter happens, no matter how bad you two screw up, even if you break each other's hearts, Yotsuba and I will be there. You won't lose what you have right now. So why not try to gain something with that effort instead of being content and confused."

"You're right." Itsuki nodded. "Thanks for everything."

Nino and Itsuki has dinner with Fuutarou. Yotsuba woke up and tried to join them but didn't have the appetite to eat much. That much was oddly okay with Itsuki, who proceeded to eat her serving. Yotsuba also didn't talk much.

After dinner Nino and Itsuki went their separate ways. Yotsuba laid down but was wide awake after sleeping all day. Fuutarou pulled up a chair and sat in the bedroom with her while she watched a shark special on TV. Yotsuba tried saying she was feeling better and kept a smile on her face. But Fuutarou saw through it. She was still miserably sick. But he couldn't help but suspect there was something else to it. Why not just play the part of a sick girl and let Fuutarou baby her?

"Are you sure everything is alright?" Fuutarou asked.

"For the four-hundredth time yes." Yotsuba said.

"I'll ask you twenty-eight more times just to make sure."

"Cute."

"Itsuki and Takeda are going to finally be a thing."

"She tell you that?"

"She asked for advice and I gave her the same advice she gave me before we started dating."

"What an interesting role reversal" Yotsuba sighed.

"Is there anything special you want when you feel better?"

"I can think of a few things." She answered. "Like that pool table. Or ...well, fun stuff."

"Fun stuff." He repeated. If he could figure out the whats and maybe hear her explanation, he could figure out what Nino was talking about no problem.

He got an integral piece of the puzzle when he went to the bathroom. There was a box and something else in the bin. He looked down and then picked it up to examine it. It was a pregnancy test. And inside it was a used test. He looked at it and looked at the result. It was negative. They must have suspected that the abrupt vomiting was a sign of morning sickness and tested her.

What does she want and why? The questions continued to echo in his mind as he held the box close to his face. Was this just a test to be sure? Or ...was this what Yotsuba wanted? What was her reaction to the result? What would he have done had it been positive?

Fuutarou didn't like dwelling on that last question. It would have depended on Yotsuba's reaction. They probably made enough to support a kid but would Yotsuba be content with being a mother and raising a kid this early on? Why does she support him? Why does she do volunteer work? Why did she seem upset at more than just being sick? Why did she rush to get a pregnancy test? These questions did not allow for Fuutarou to sleep as soundly as he had previous nights.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: This story is rolling along at a pretty decent pace. The more I do, the more I want to do. It's like Yotsuba and Fuutarou, the more I see them together the more I want them together.**

Chapter 8: Labors Rewarded

Ever since her brief run in with a fever, Yotsuba had been full of passion. She had made a routine for herself. She had started to get use to Fuutarou's work schedule. He could work all he wanted on weekdays, because from the time he got home Friday night, until the time they went to bed Sunday night, he was hers.

She had taken a far more proactive role in the relationship. She wondered if he had noticed her true intent. He never questioned her about it. He never protested, even when he was tired. But there was something she kept seeing in his eyes. Every time they looked into each other's eyes it would seem like he was studying her, trying to figure out a difficult problem. And that just made her blush. She wanted that look to stay on her forever.

But no matter how many times they did it, no matter how absolutely amazing it felt, no matter how many cautions she threw to the wind, the result was the same. Every Friday, while Fuutarou was at work, she would buy a pregnancy test. And every Friday, it came up negative. She started to think something might be wrong with her, or wrong with Fuutarou. And brought a twinge of depression to her soul. So much so that, under Nino's advice, she asked her doctor.

Usually their father personally oversaw all their medical care. Brilliant as he may be, he was still more of a surgeon. Something like this needed a more personal touch. So she got in touch with a fertility specialist named Dr. Kirin and did a check up.

"Well Mrs. Uesugi, everything seems perfectly healthy for you." Dr. Kirin said.

"Are you sure?" Yotsuba asked.

"You should have no problems having children. You are incredibly healthy. You're fertile. And you have a body more than capable of bringing a pregnancy to term. I'm not surprised that your mother had Quintuplets." She mused.

"Then why am I not pregnant yet?" Yotsuba said.

"Well, your husband has never been tested so records don't exist for him. But he could be sterile. Or, more likely just has a low sperm count."

"Oh." Yotsuba sighed. She wanted anything but to blame him. She didn't want him feeling inadequate. She didn't want him thinking she was angry about something he had no control over.

"Look, Mrs. Uesugi. The two of you are still relatively young. It just takes some couples a lot more attempts. It's premature to lose hope just yet."

"You're right. I'm just not sure how to bring up my fears to him."

"Well you'd know about him more than me." The doctor said. Now if you'll excuse me, I have another appointment. Feel free to schedule something anytime."

Yotsuba spent the rest of the day riding her bike around before stopping at the park. She jumped on the swing and started building some momentum. She looked out at the houses, and spotted her own. She smiled. Unironic joy always took her when she saw it from this vantage point. This was where she first made him laugh and smile. This was where she first truly confessed to him. This was where they had their first kiss. And it was where he proposed to her. So many sad memories of her self-inflicted loneliness were no more. All of them struck down by her loving husband.

Love could see through any disguise. She wondered if he knew she was wanting to have kids? He probably did. If he hadn't he probably would have complained about certain decisions. Or at the very least he would have asked if she was really okay with throwing caution to the wind. So he knew? But what did he think?

What did she think? She wanted a kid but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. She felt like she had to come up with a reason before asking Fuutarou what his thoughts were. Fuutarou may be open to the idea but he also likely doesn't feel ready for one. And in her mind, it wouldn't be right to guilt trip him into something so serious. The question of whether they were ready was another concern.

"Fuutarou-Kun would make a great dad." She said to herself. "But he gets down on himself so I'm going to have to be the one convincing him of that. Not sure if I'd be a good mother but I'll show them all the love I can. So long as Fuutarou-Kun is by my side even an idiot like me can accomplish anything."

She stayed a little later than she initially planned. It crossed her mind that Fuutarou had never had the house to himself. She wondered what he would do under those circumstances. She'd have to ask him when she got home.

She leapt off the swings and went to Nino and Miku's restaurant. Both of them were busy so she didn't get the chance to socialize. She also only got a coffee and listened to more podcasts on her phone. Knowing Fuutarou he'd cook something.

Right before she left, she got a message asking her to get them food while she was out. That was a curious notion. Fuutarou always preferred to make food. He wasn't half bad in the kitchen and it often helped him decompress after work. The fact he'd have been off for an hour by this point meant he was either too tired to cook, or was up to something.

Most likely the former. Fuutarou wasn't the kind of person to do surprises...for the most part. She ordered food and then started making her way home. She took her time, giving Fuutarou more time in the house without her. She teased him in her thoughts. 'See, now you know how I feel in this house when you're gone.' She thought.

When she arrived, she noticed another car parked out front. This raised another question in her mind. Maybe it was someone visiting the neighbors. But then the idea of having guests crossed her mind. Took the fun out of the whole 'leaving Fuutarou home alone' thing.

"Fuutarou-Kun!" Yotsuba called. "Food!"

"I'm in the basement!" She heard him call.

She descended the stairs. Fuutarou almost never went to the basement. It was a big empty room with a stacked storage closet and the laundry room. And laundry was something she always did. She aso heard some clamoring and a hushed curse from Fuutarou. The first thing she noticed lt her heart ablaze.

"Fuutarou-Kun!" She cheered.

"Figured you have been clamoring for it enough." He said as he stood up and stretched.

"I love you so much!" She hugged him and nearly knocked him into the pool table he was constructing.

"Hey Mrs. Uesugi." A young man piped up. "We never properly introduced ourselves." He held out his hand. "I'm your husband's desk neighbor." He began shaking her hand.

"Yeah." She did recognize him but couldn't remember his name. "It's uh…."

"Tokoyami-Kun." Fuutarou bailed her out of the awkward fumble. She had only met him in passing at the wedding and a party before that. Plus she was terrible at names anyway.

"That's right." Yotsuba said as she let his hand go.

"I ordered this pool table a while ago. Tokoyami-Kun is helping me put it together."

"And here I thought I was leaving you home alone." Yotsuba smiled.

"Thought we could use your help but we managed." Fuutarou teased.

"Don't make me feel bad about it." Yotsuba pouted. "Thank you, Tokoyam-Kun." She politely bowed. "And thank you Fuutarou-Kun."

"Anything you want, I'll give it to you eventually."

"Eventually?" She sighed remembering the trip to the fertility specialist.

"Well gotta make sure it's something you really want and not an impulse buy." Fuutarou scratched the back of his head.

"Anything I want." She didn't notice at first but her hand had subconsciously drifted to her stomach. Fuutarou must have noticed because he changed the subject to the food.

"I'm ready to eat." Fuutarou clapped.

"Sorry I didn't get you anything Tokoyami-Kun." Yotsuba apologized. "You can have mine if you…"

"No need I ate on the way here." Tokoyami interrupted.

"Yeah, bastard had the nerve to eat the last bites right in front of my face." Fuutarou groaned. "It's why I had you get some take out."

"If you say so." Yotsuba plopped down on the last step and Fuutarou sat cross legged in front of her. She tore open the bag and used it as a placemat for the barbecue she had picked up. Fuutarou stayed silent, which made Yotsuba feel good, but also made her curious. He saw her reaction, did he know what she wanted? Did he know why? So she broke the silence. "Why now?"

"It's getting close to Labor Thanksgiving." He said. "Thought I'd pay you back for all the amazing work you do around here and all the love and support you've shown me, even when I'm being an ass who doesn't deserve it."

"Hmm….I know I should feel good about it. But I can't help but think that I've been a tad bit selfish. Even a lot of the good I do for you I do because of what you do in return." She sighed.

"That's a healthy relationship. I would never dream of taking advantage of your kindness and I trust that you won't take advantage of me."

"I would never."

"Yotsuba, you're the most selfless person I know. Just stop being so dumb and narrow minded and think about people other than me." He said.

"But I can't stop thinking of you." She cooed to play off the tease.

"When you volunteer, do you look for reciprocation?" He asked.

"No, that defeats the whole purpose." Yotsuba said.

"So, why?" Fuutarou didn't sound facetious. He sounded genuinely curious.

"I just...I'm not sure." Yotsuba pondered. "It just makes me so happy when I see people smile. It's like, my heart just can't give everything to you. It's like it desires to see as many people happy as possible."

"I see." He said as he took a sip of tea.

After they were done eating, they finished up setting the pool table. They played a few quick rounds. Fuutarou won all three fairly easily. Yotsuba wasn't all that surprised. Tokoyami on the other hand was pretty astounded.

"Woah, Uesugi-San, you're really good at this." Tokoyami gleamed.

"You just have to think things through." Fuutarou responded.

"Well, I guess I'll cut my losses." Tokoyami said as he set his pool stick down. "It's getting kind late. I need to get home soon."

"Well thanks for coming over." Yotsuba said. "Feel free to visit anytime."

"Please don't abuse that privilege." Fuutarou said.

"Have fun. I'll see you at work tomorrow." Tokoyami waved goodbye before ascending the staircase.

"He seems nice." Yotsuba said.

"He's kinda annoying." Fuutarou said. "But he's a good man. Just kinda dumb. Sorta reminds me of you now that I think about it."

"Hmph." Yotsuba pouted for a split second before grinning. "Knew there was something I liked about him." She punctuated the statement with a punch to his arm. "So, you brought up Labor Thanksgiving. We doing anything special?"

"I was thinking of having a cookout, invite the whole family. That sort of thing."

"I should probably get you something since you got the pool table." Yotsuba blushed.

"Don't worry about it."

"I'll get you a notepad or something cheap. Shishishi." She knew he didn't want her to worry less because of his heart and more because he was singy. So, giving him a notepad, something he had gone without for a few weeks now, was the best she could muster. And the thought brought a smile to his face.

"I am in need of a new one." He noted.

"I know. It's not exactly equal but I think it's fair." She faced him and climbed to her toes. She pressed her body against his and gave him a kiss. His lips were chapped but she didn't care. That awkward loving smile that invaded his features was what she lived for. She rested her hands on his shoulders as he leaned further into the kiss. After a moment, Fuutarou pulled back and broke off the kiss.

"Do I tell you enough, how beautiful you are?" He asked.

"You could probably stand to say it a bit more." She replied as she bit her bottom lip. When she looked deep into his face she averted his gaze. Her hands fumbled to smooth over his collar. All the thoughts she had earlier that day came back.

"Is everything okay?"

"It's fine. I'm fine. We're fine." Yotsuba said.

"You don't seem fine."

"Well, I am. Probably not great but this is fine."

"For now?"

"Hmm?" Yotsuba perked up at his response.

"It's nothing." He played it off though Yotsuba wasn't convinced. Maybe that was his way of letting her know that he knew what was on her mind. Or at the very least suspected. That did a lot to make her feel better. For now, as in everything is fine and dandy, but eventually they'll want a change in that status quo. What it didn't tell Ytsuba, was whether Fuutarou was ready for kids, or if he had figured out the part of Yotsuba she herself hadn't fully grasped. What does she really want and why?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Labors Thanksgiving

Fuutarou collapsed and rolled over in a sweaty heap of breaths. His wife pressed herself against him, basking in the warmth of his raw flesh. The sheets clung to their hot bodies as they began to cuddle. It was Labor Thanksgiving Day. They were going to have people over. And Fuutarou has taken the initiative to start it off right. Which marked the first time he had definitively started it since their honeymoon.

"Mmmmhmmmmm." She sighed as she kissed his shoulder. "I wish we could just stay like this forever." Fuutarou sensed the hollow platitude of her post-coidal claim. "But we should probably get ready."

"Good idea."

"I'll take the first shower. I probably need it more than you after…..yeah." She blushed and smiled.

"I'll start on cleaning." He said. He actually took the next minute admiring every physical feature of his wife as she got ready to shower. As soon as she left the bedroom, Fuutarou pulled a bathrobe over his body and started to straighten up.

After Yotsuba was done in the bath it was Fuutarou's turn. When he got out, he thanked Yotsuba for putting all the bedsheets in the washer. They didn't have much time alone after that before guests started to arrive.

"Fuutarou, Yotsuba." Miku was the first to arrive. And she did so with plenty of things to cook. "Help me and Nino bring some things in."

"Did you get me anything?" Fuutarou asked as he poked into one of her bags.

"Maybe." She jerked the bags away from him.

"Fuu-Kun, where should I set these chairs?" Nino said as she carried some foldable chairs into the living room.

"Just over by the table for now." Fuutarou said.

"Thanks for bringing these." Yotsuba said. "I was worried we wouldn't have enough for everyone."

"It's no problem." Nino said as she hobbled down the step to the dining room. She set them down and sighed in relief. "You can keep them for all I care. We're not getting much use out of them."

Miku tied her hair back and put on an apron. Her and Nino started bumping into each other at the stove. Both of them looked through the things they had to make and argued about who was going to cook what. Once Fuutarou and Yotsuba got all the chairs in the dining room, the fourth sister intervened.

"Hey, let Fuutarou and I handle this." Yotsuba said.

"We can handle it." Miku said.

"Nonsense. You're our guests and you work in kitchens enough as is. Take a break." Yotsuba argued.

"Yeah, I'll handle the cooking." Fuutarou said as he put on an apron.

"Don't go intruding in on our territory." Nino said as she waved a spatula in his face.

"We want to cook for everyone." Miku said. "I've been looking forward to actually cooking what I want all week."

"Yeah, compared to some of our pain in the ass customers you guys are easy to cook for." Nino said.

"That's not the point!" Yotsuba pouted. "I wanted to be a good hostess." Her cheeks puffed out into full pout mode.

"You should just entertain us and let us cook." Miku giggled.

"Yotsuba." Fuutarou said as he put his hands on her shoulders. "I think it's a good thing that running a business hasn't destroyed their love for cooking. Let them be."

"Alright." She sighed. "Whatever makes them happiest."

"Hello!" Takeda burst through the door. "We decided to come here early and hang out."

"We beat you here." Miku said.

"We?" Nino asked.

Takeda was with Ituki hand in hand. The fifth sister's face was a brighter red than her hair. They were both dressed up really nice. Takeda had a white vest over a yellow shirt. Itsuki wore a yellow shirt, a white scarf and a long black skirt.

"T-Takeda was helping me out and when we…" Itsuki started.

"You don't have to hide it." Yotsuba stepped towards her and put a hand on the other girl's shoulder. "We all knew the two of you were together."

"And I couldn't be happier visiting my best friend's house for dinner with such a beautiful woman." Takeda sparkled as he danced around. "Especially when my best friend's wife is one of her identical sisters."

"He's so embarrassing." Itsuki covered her face with her free hand. "I swear he's a lot more normal when it's just the two of us."

"You can't fool me." Yotsuba poked Itsuki's stomach. "You love it."

"Don't encourage him." Itsuki sighed.

"Jokes on you I don't need encouragement." Takeda said.

"So, how have you been." Fuutarou asked.

"Training has been going well." Takeda said. "But right now they still have me doing classes to be a rocket scientist."

"Teaching is hard." Itsuki said. "Kids are mean. But I can't give up. The fact that the little brats are a pain in the ass are all the more reasons I need to be a firm teacher."

"Yep, kids are a massive responsibility." Fuutarou nodded as he side-eyed Yotsuba. She smiled without a hint of content. Her beaming face reaffirmed Fuutarou's suspicion that she wanted kids. The question was whether she knew. And if she did, why hadn't she spoken up about it?

"Well take a load off." Yotsuba said.

"Don't mind if I do." Takeda sat down on the couch and Itsuki joined him.

"Can I get you anything?" Yotsuba asked.

"I'll take a glass of tea." Takeda said.

"I'll have what he's having." Itsuki added.

"Alright." Yotsuba left for the kitchen. Fuutarou joined the others on the couch, trapping Itsuki between the two boys.

"So when did the two of you decide to stop being coy and start dating?" He asked.

"In my heart, it was from the moment we…." Takeda started.

"Right after I talked to you about it." Itsuki said. "Like, right after. I called him up as soon as we parted ways."

"It was...I was absurdly happy." Takeda sighed and took a serious tone. "Like all my fears got washed away with those three words."

"It's so good to see you two happy." Yotsuba said as she handed them their drinks. "Itsuki can be such a stick in the mud. So serious." She plopped down on Fuutarou's lap. "Who would have thought we'd be the two who have boyfriends? Well, husband in my case. Any ideas on who to hook Nino or Miku up with?"

"Um…" Itsuki stammered.

"Let them make their own decisions." Fuutarou held Yotsuba tight. "They have their own lives to live. Plus there's Kisuke and Yoshi."

"I heard that!" Nino shouted from the kitchen. "Kisuke and I are just friends and I don't have time to date."

"I'm not sure about Yoshi myself. He's nice though." Miku said.

"I'd feel better if everyone had someone to love though." Yotsuba said.

"Well stop that." Itsuki perked up. "Not everyone needs to be dating guys. Look at Ichika, she's doing just fine."

"I know, but I still feel like I'm the only one who is doing well in that department and still not comfortable being special like that."

"And here I thought you were over all that." Itsuki teased.

"I am, I just want everyone else to be as happy as I am damn it. Is that so wrong?"

"No, it's not." Fuutarou sighed. "But everyone is entitled to their happiness, but also have different things that make them happy."

"Yeah, so long as I'm making money and spending time with all of you I'm happy." Nino said.

"Heeeee." Yotsuba beamed.

Nino, Miku and Itsuki continued to trade stories from their work. The way Itsuki talked took Fuutarou back to when he was their tutor. It dawned on him that thanks to all five of them, he made friends. Thanks to all five of them-and their father paying five times the going rate- he was able to clear his family's debt and continues to lend his father money when he needs it. Thanks to all of them, he fell in love with Yotsuba, came to understand and accept his feelings, and get married.

Then his father and Raiha showed up. Raiha started bickering with Nino about the food. This family had too many people that loved cooking. Fuutarou entertained the thought of all of them working for Nino. It would at least be good work experience for Raiha. She was still in high school and only worked at a small shop. She would have to start thinking about her future soon as well.

"Food's ready." Nino proclaimed. Everyone started piling into the kitchen. Just before they got started, the door opened.

"Sorry I'm late guys." Ichika said. "Traffic was horrible."

"Ichika you made it!" Nino cheered.

"I texted Yotsuba saying I was on my way." Ichika said as she gave Nino a hug.

"Oops, haven't looked at my phone." Yotsuba blushed.

"Well, glad we can all be here." Itsuki said as she gave Ichika a hug.

"Yeah, I didn't get much of a chance to visit you three last time I was free." Ichika noted as she switched over to Miku.

Fuutarou smiled and nodded. As far as he was concerned his whole family was here now. But he didn't watch the girls greeting each other. He watched Yotsuba. And Yotsuba wasn't looking at Ichika, she was looking at everyone else and basking in how happy everyone was to be together.

It clicked for Fuutarou then and there. Love. He was beginning to think if love really was the superpower the Nakano Quintuplets always described it as. It wasn't any ordinary love either. Yotsuba was different. She was special. She lived to make others happy. The stronger her love for someone the more she desired their happiness. Fuutarou hadn't really noticed when he placed himself as the object of her affection. He had a hard time noticing it with her sisters as well. But notice it he did.

The dominos were falling into place. Yotsuba had too much love to give. Fuutarou and the other four sisters weren't enough. She needed Raiha, and Takeda, and his father, and all the people whose lives she made better with her volunteer work, and…..

"What's that look for?" Itsuki gave the thought pause.

"I just thought up the answer for something that was asked of me a while ago." Fuutarou filed his thought away for later. In the meantime, he would just enjoy the meal.

Yotsuba was full of energy. Apparently one of the podcasts she listened to lately described the lifestyle of one of the squid that had been cooked up for everyone. Fuutarou didn't know whether to roll his eyes or burst out laughing when she started playing with the calamari. For her benefit he laughed. And he wasn't sure he had ever lit up as much as she did when he laughed. Fuutarou would have to work extra hard to top that reaction.

But the night had to come to an end. Everyone had to part ways. Yotsuba's super inflated sense of pride and ego began to deflate as people left. When everyone was gone, her face was filled with content rather than joy. Fuutarou washed the last of the dishes while she wiped the table. The thought Fuutarou had was opened back up. He was ready to ask the question and make the statement.

"Yotsuba."

"Yes darling?" She responded.

"You are absolutely the most loving person I could possibly imagine."

"Aw thanks."

"And I know you want more people to love." The words gave her pause. She waited a minute to answer and barely moved an inch as she did.

"What do you mean?" She muttered.

"I saw the pregnancy test. When you were sick. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because ...I wanted whatever happens to happen." She set the wash cloth down and turned towards him. "Because I was worried you'd reject the notion and start playing things safer. But then you went ahead and made it REAL clear that wasn't the case. I caught on and so then ..."

"You came with another excuse." He finished the sentence.

"Figured you weren't sure and was just letting whatever happens to happen. Figured, when I get pregnant I'd tell you right away and we'd be happy."

"So you're not pregnant?"

"No not yet as far as I'm aware." Yotsuba nervously picked at her nails. Fuutarou sat the last dish down and walked towards her. "Doctor said I was healthy and fertile as could be. So if we're having issues ...Fuutarou-Kun I don't have the heart to blame you but it's frustrating you know."

"I'll get myself checked out next time I'm at the hospital." He cupped her cheek. "And if it's not possible, we'll start looking into adoption. Or getting a sperm donor if you're really sold on getting pregnant."

"Thanks." She said as she grabbed his hand and rubbed it against her head.

"In the meantime." He captured her lips and grabbed her hips. He forced her backwards onto the table. With a tug he hoisted her up into a sitting position. She put her hands on his chest and pushed away, breaking the embrace.

"Fuutarou-Kun I just cleaned the table." She blushed.

"Well then where would you like to pick things up from this morning?" He asked. She bobbed her head side to side and then pulled him into a kiss as she leaned back. Labor Thanksgiving was always special for the two of them. And Fuutarou was doing a damn fine job making this one particularly memorable.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Out of the Bag

Yotsuba quickly reapplied her makeup in the mirror. It was three in the afternoon. She had just gotten done with a shift at the flower shop and was scheduled to coach a basketball practice. And she was supposed to pick Raiha up from school on the way. The younger girl had agreed to watch the practice so she didn't have to worry about rushing to drop her off at home.

After making herself look presentable she hopped on the moped and sped off towards the highschool. She waited outfront with all the other parents waiting to pick their kids up. There was no winning the waiting game. Get here too soon and you have to wait on the kids. Get here too late and you have to deal with traffic. This was one thing Yotsuba was not looking forward to when it came to being a parent.

She still had a few years at least to deal with that. She still wasn't pregnant and not for lack of trying. The previous weekend had been one of their most adventurous. He had gotten a physical examination. Luckily he wasn't incapable of having kids, but at the same time he was the reason it hadn't happened yet. He had a low sperm count and other things holding him back.

Speaking of him, she was regretting not asking Fuutarou for the car. The plan was that he'd go grocery shopping while she was coaching basketball. But she wasn't expecting it to be this cold. Vehicles were expensive though and she didn't want to waste the money on something that the moped was adequate for throughout most of the year.

The bell rang and people started filing out of the school. Memories of her time in that school ran through her head. Hard to believe she had been out of highschool longer than she was in at this point. Raiha was almost done at this point.

The younger Uesugi sibling came walking out with a small group of girls. They were all bundled up in coats and Raiha had a red scarf around her neck. They started going their separate ways and Raiha spotted her sister-in-law.

"Yotsuba Nee-San!" Raiha waved and jogged over. "How are you doing today?"

"Cold." Yotsuba shivered. "Come on." She handed Raiha her spare helmet. "So how was school?" Yotsuba said as she started up the vehicle.

"Pretty good. I've been having fun hanging out with my friend Sakura."

"You'll have to tell me about her later. Hold on tight."

"Yes ma'am." Raiha wrapped her arms around Yotsuba's stomach as she sped off. The wind was too great for them to carry on a conversation. And by the time they arrived at their destination, Raiha had to go to the bathroom and Yotsuba hurried to meet up with her kids for practice.

Yotsuba's team had a long way to go if they were going to stand a chance against the other girl teams in the area. Most of them were passionate about the sport, but lacked any talent. A few of them were talented but unmotivated. One of them had neither but was forced into the sport by her mom.

Yotsuba had to treat coaching the way Fuutarou treated tutoring. She had to earn their respect. She had to make it fun. She had to see each girl as an individual and not as part of a collective. She had made strives trying to get the team to treat each other like family. If only she made equal strides in actually making them good at the sport they'd be unstoppable. But she had confidence, and she was at least proud that they understood what it meant to be a team.

"You're all partners." Yotsuba said. Just like her and Fuutarou and the others were partners.

While she focused on the kids Raiha sat up in the bleachers and studied. She was a lot like her brother in that regard. I actually reminded her of Itsuki if Itsuki was good at studying. Or Yotsuba herself if she stuck with it instead of foregoing her studies for sports and other extracurricular activities.

Their time for practice ran out and Yotsuba dismissed them. She had to wait until all the kids were gone before she could leave so she played with a ball. She passed it back and forth with some of the kids, dribbled and shot some goals. Each toss went into the net, earning a silent cheer from the coach. She still had it. Maybe she should see about joining a league. Or would that be too much? Yeah, she preferred just coaching kids. That's where her heart was taking her.

"Yotsuba pass it." Raiha said as she held her arms out. Yotsuba passed it to her and the younger girl took a shot. The ball hit off the rim and bounced away. Yotsuba quickly ran and grabbed the ball, turned and shot. Her body was off balance from the quick motion and it was the first time the ball didn't go in.

"Looks like you are fallible." Raiha said.

"I don't even know what that word means." She was telling the truth but had a confident grin to make it look like she was only playing dumb.

"It's just assuring that you're not perfect." Raiha added.

"I am the furthest thing from perfect." Yotsuba they started passing the ball back and forth.

"But you're courageous and strong...not to mention absolutely beautiful." Raiha sighed. Yotsuba caught the ball and held onto it. Something about Raiha's tone sparked her curiosity. It was like the younger girl was looking for an opportunity to speak her mind but was holding back. It was a tone Yotsuba knew all too well. It was the same tone she would use when she would cheer "Uesugi-San."

"I'm also really stupid though." Yotsuba started dribbling the ball. "I don't know what I'd do without your brother."

"Fuutarou….when did you know you were in love with him?"

"I don't know. It was always there. I thought he was cute and lonely and I wanted to help. Then we made our promise and it changed me. After a while I realized I was in love with him, or at least the idea of him. Then when I saw how hard he had worked and how much he had changed, I couldn't help but belittle myself and fall in love."

"Yeah ...can't really relate to such deep feelings." Raiha sighed.

"Nothing wrong with that." Yotsuba said. One of her kids shouted her name and waved goodbye. So she waved back before getting back on track. "There's nothing wrong with not liking boys. I'm sure your dad will be happy." She teased.

"Hmm…" Her face tightened up. She looked back and forth for a second. She then stepped forward to close the distance between them. "I...is it really okay for me to not like guys?"

"Of course. You can't force something like love. Just keep an open heart and you're bound to love someone eventually."

"I...I do love someone though." Raiha took a deep breath. "At least I think it might be love. It's just uh…."

"Well then what's his name?"

"It's just…..it's not a he. Alright. It's….the only person, the way you describe your feelings the only one who is like that for me is Sakura."

"Oh." Yotsuba bit her lip. Now that she thought about it, it made sense. This was a bit of a taboo and a very touchy subject. Raiha was confiding in her. She was coming out to her. "Have you told her?"

"No. But we ...I was spending time with her and we started talking about kissing and then things happened, you know."

"Have you told anyone else?" Yotsuba asked.

"I passively hinted at it to Itsuki but she didn't press me so I never really came lean. You're the first person I trust who has actually asked me about my love life." Raiha said. "I don't know what to do. I've never been in love so I don't know if this is just a phase or if we were just caught up in the moment or if this is serious. I don't know if this is platonic or if I have feelings for her. And I can't tell my dad. Oh promise me you won't tell my brother."

"I hate lying to him but...yeah I don't think he'd ever ask so I won't tell." Yotsuba promised. "You can trust me."

"This is so awkward." Raiha blushed. "I wish I had your figure." She fumed as she clutched her chest. "It'd be easier to figure out what I'm feeling if I had more opportunities to confront them. Like, am I falling for Sakura because I'm ...that or is it because I don't have any guy friends. Like, Fuutarou had no interest in dating anyone until he had been your tutor for a long time. What if I'm the ..." Yotsuba stopped her ramblings by placing a gentle finger on her lips.

"You are smart and cute and a glowing personality. You're going to figure it out. And I will always be here. You're family."

"Thanks." Raiha breathed a sigh of relief. "You're the best." She wrapped her arms around her big sister. Yotsuba hugged her back and patted her head. Raiha was still a bit shorter than Yotsuba but had grown a lot over the last five years.

"Let's go home." Yotsuba said.

After some time, fighting traffic and sitting in silence, they were at the house. Fuutarou was home and making dinner. Yotsuba discarded her coat and walked over to the heater. Her hands were frigid and her body was shivering.

"Cold outside huh." Fuutarou teased.

"You have no idea. And riding the moped makes it worse." Yotsuba whined.

"Well, if there's ever a day where you have somewhere to be and you don't want to deal with it, you can always take me to work."

"But wouldn't that just take more gas money?"

"Since when did you become economically conscious?"

"I have always supported your stinginess." She defended.

"You're a terrible liar." He tugged on the ribbon in her hair.

"Wah, stop it!" She cried out. "You know I've gotten better!" He set her down and laughed.

"Yeah." Fuutarou said as he fixed the ribbon. "Don't worry about gas money. It beats the hell out of paying for another car."

"True." Yotsuba said as she looked over to Raiha, pacing around the kitchen taste testing the broth Fuutarou had been making.

"So, how was your day?" He asked.

"Busy and cold." Yotsuba answered.

"Cold and stressful." Raiha chimed in.

"But the two of you at least got a little girl time." Fuutarou said.

"A little bit." Yotsuba said. Raiha gave her a quick glance. Yotsuba nodded. Raiha's feelings were her own. Only she could figure them out. All Yotsuba could do was support her. And she would no matter what happened. No matter who she told and what they thought. Regardless of if this was a phase or not, if she got her heart broken or not. Yotsuba wouldn't dream of leaving Fuutarou's side and that meant Raiha would always be a fifth sister for her.

"Learn anything from watching Yotsuba coach?"

"Not really." Raiha shrugged. "Not really into basketball. I spent the whole time studying." Fuutarou glanced over to Yotsuba who nodded to confirm. "My grades are still really good. I'm ranked number one in my class but only number two in the grade. I really want to take that top spot with the next test."

"So long as it's what you want." Fuutarou said.

"And so long as you don't try being an ass about it." Yotsuba said. "Like someone we know."

"Was that a shot at me?"

"It was a shot at both of us." She replied as she buried her face into Fuutarou's back and gave him a nice and tight hug.

"You two are so cute." Raiha beamed.

The three of them had dinner together. After the meal, Fuutarou took Raiha home while Yotsuba cleaned up. She was still putting stuff away when Fuutarou returned home. He sauntered off into the bedroom and Yotsuba joined him as soon as she was done.

"I'm glad Raiha has been doing well." Fuutarou said.

"Yeah, I wish we had more time to hang out." Yotsuba stated as she began to strip down and change into her pajamas.

"You wish that about everyone." He noted.

"Everyone I absolutely love as family." Yotsuba amended his comment. "Really can't wait for that list to grow."

"It will. Just give it time."

"Oh I'll give it something all right." She grinned as she pulled on his nightshirt. The two fell onto the bed with him laying on top of her.

"Not much you can give that I haven't already taken." He sighed. She pulled him into a deep kiss that lasted a whole minute.

"You can always give me more...whenever you want." Her tone was sultry. She was shifting the mood as always at this time of night. "I love you so much."

"I know, and I love you too."


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Coming back into this after finishing the first draft of my novel. And….that latest chapter holy shit that really happened. As soon as I saw that I knew I had to postpone all other projects to do this.**

Chapter 11: Love and Taxes

Yotsuba was doing the thing again. Fuutarou wondered if she'd ever move past her own self-deprecation. He also wondered if he's love her the same if she had high confidence all the time. It did feel good when Yotsuba came to him with her own issues and insecurities. All five of the Nakano quintuplets spent so much time with no one but each other. That lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms for all of them.

Yotsuba always tried suffering alone. She didn't want to drag her sisters down. She felt guilty for wanting to be different, to be special, to find something she could be proud of. She had to move past all that in order to accept Fuutarou's confession. But every once in a while, she'd have a breakdown where she kept talking down to herself. Sometimes it felt like she was just fishing for compliments, not that Fuutarou minded.

This break down started with Yotsuba's period arriving again. Not only did that naturally cause her hormones to be thrown out of balance but it also meant yet another month of not getting pregnant. Then, the coffee machine broke. So before Fuutarou had even woken up, Yotsuba was already beyond annoyed with everything.

Then they were supposed to go through their taxes. Yotsuba was eager to help. She wanted to accomplish something-anything- to feel productive. So, Fuutarou was trying to help her deal with that, and walk her through it. He was extremely patient with her. He was far more patient with her than she was with herself.

"This is just so frustrating!" She slammed down on the table. "I'm so stupid." She pouted and started hitting the table. Tears dripped from her eyes. "I don't get it. I'll never get it. I'll always be stupid. Why do you even put up with me?"

"Because I love you." Fuutarou said.

"Why would you settle for a stupid person like me? Yeah yeah, I'm pretty and nice and hardworking but so are my sisters."

"But I don't love your sisters the same way I love you." Fuutarou shook his head. "Do you think I'm dumb?"

"NO!" She cried.

"Am I someone who acts foolishly?"

"You're amazing and kind and ...and…."

"Then trust that I made the smartest choice."

That always made her stop complaining, even if she kept silently sulking. If he just kept her attention on all the good things she had then she'd be fine. Mood swings, depression, general self-loathing, these were all problems Fuutarou had to help her with every once in a while. He looked over the form she was filling out. So far, it didn't have anything out of place.

"You're doing good so far." He said. He started massaging her shoulders. "Just breathe in, breathe out, deep breaths. I'm here to share this workload. It's not the end of the world. You are more amazing than you realize."

"I feel like garbage though." Yotsuba pouted.

"It'll pass." He kissed the top of her head. "Come dance with me a little."

"Okay." Yotsuba stood and faced him. His arms wrapped around her waist and she buried her face into his chest. "I wish I was in the mood for more. You're probably frustrated not being able to…"

"You think I care about that so much?" Fuutarou cut her off. "Just holding you like this is all the pleasure I need right now. I'm actually kinda glad I'm getting a break for once."

"I'm sorry." She said, rubbing her tears face into his shirt.

"You have nothing to apologize for."

"It's just so hard doing all of this and dealing with this."

"Tedious. The word you're wanting is tedious. It's not hard, you have everything you need right in front of you. It's like an open-book test. It is just the most tedious thing in the world."

"Why do we even need taxes?" Yotsuba asked.

"It's how the government pays for everything."

"Why can't we just pay for stuff ourselves? We'd have more money to pay for doctors and schools if the government didn't take taxes."

"Well, that'd be an ideal world." Fuutarou chuckled. "But not everyone can afford it without help, and not everyone is as charitable as you."

"I can't afford anything. You're the one with all the money."

"You're the one with the time though."

"I hate this. Can't you just let me be miserable for a minute?"

"Nope." He ran his hands through her hair.

"I don't know what I would do without you." She squeezed his body tighter. "I'd probably pull my hair out and scream every time I have to do something like this."

"Well, if you didn't have me, you'd have your sisters." Fuutarou said. "Hmm, I wonder how they're doing."

"Ichika has an accountant that helps her. Besides, she was always the best at math. All I was ever exceptional at was sports and Japanese."

"You did well enough to pass. All that matters is that you did your best and did well enough to move onto the next stage of your life. Of our life." He kissed the top of her head and let her go.

She had calmed down but her face was still red. Her eyes were still bloodshot and her makeup was smeared. She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Fuutarou grabbed her ribbon and readjusted it to help her fix her hair.

Yotsuba's stomach growled and her face went red. Fuutarou guided her to her seat before walking to the counter. He got some stuff out and made some sandwiches. He then poured them both a glass of orange juice. They did a silent toast before taking drinks of the tangy liquid.

"Anxiety, depression, taxes, baby blues, period, and now hangry. I am a piece of work."

"Half those things are compounded from the same thing." Fuutarou said. "After we eat we should find a way to unwind, decompress."

"No, no, this has to be done." Yotsuba shook her head.

"We have time. I'll handle the rest. You relax and…"

"I can't relax knowing I'm burdening you with all this stuff."

"You're obviously not in the best place to do this. Don't overextend yourself ...please."

"You're right." She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Just why does all this stuff have to happen all at once?"

"I don't think fate ever gives us more than we can handle. Or at the very least, it takes us where we need to be."

Fuutarou put his hands on her shoulders. Her muscles were sore and tight. She hadn't been doing her usual stretches and workouts the last day or two. It was clearly a vicious cycle. She wasn't motivated to exercise because of depression and the lack of exercise just added more to her depression because of the lack of those post-workout endorphins.

"Let's go for a jog." Fuutarou said.

"I'm not feeling well enough."

"Come on, the fresh air will do you some good and you'll feel much better." Fuutarou said. It was a strange reversal of roles for them. It was usually Yotsuba saying that sort of thing to him. But with her mood, he had to make up for it. If he didn't, he'd only be dragged down with her. And if she noticed that, she'd only feel worse.

"You're probably right." She grumbled.

After finishing her lunch, she cleaned up her makeup and put on her jogging suit. Fuutarou gave her a warm smile when she emerged from the bedroom. His beaming face was a nuke to all her negativity. When he smiled, life felt so much easier, like all her suffering was a small price to pay for the true joy of being married to the only man she had ever truly loved.

They didn't stay out long. They jogged around the neighborhood for about thirty minutes. Fuutarou was still nowhere near as athletic as Yotsuba, but he had enough stamina to make it through the light jog. Yotsuba certainly lightened up.

When they arrived back at their house, Yotsuba kicked off her shoes and sat back down at the table. She looked over the tax form and started working on it again. The frustration she felt before was gone. Going on that run refueled her confidence. It was like restarting a computer. All he had to do was turn her off and back on again. And as she worked, Fuutarou swore he saw her ribbon pulsating. It was generally unnerving, especially after Yotsuba told him she thought it was alive.

Fuutarou looked over everything and made sure it was filled out correctly. Just like schoolwork, it was so much easier when everything was right. It all checked out so he filed it away to be mailed off on his way to work.

"We did it, our first time filing taxes as a married couple." Fuutarou said.

"Yay." Yotsuba planted her face on the table. "So accomplished. I wish it improved the way I feel."

"You are going to feel absolutely amazing when everything balances back out and you wake up in the morning without needing to worry about this for another year."

"I'll still be worrying about all the other stuff though." Yotsuba said.

Fuutarou shook his head. He was starting to get irritated with how mopey Yotsuba had become. He kinda missed the days where she would bury her pain and sadness under thick layers of fake smiles and genki energy. But he got it. He understood why this meant so much to her. He had to do his best to be there for her.

"Yotsuba." He said. He took a seat directly in front of her. "Yotsuba." He repeated. "Yotsuba Uesugi."

"Hmm." She looked up. Their faces were extremely close. Had they not already been married it would be an embarrassing moment.

"You finally looked at me." Fuutarou chuckled, thinking of the day fate brought them together again. "We have each other. We have love. We already have an amazing family. I have a great career and you are a beacon of light for the community. We are healthy and we are successful. There's no need to dwell on what we don't have, when we'll get it eventually."

"I've tried being happy with all this. I just want so much more."

"Aren't you girls the ones always talking about fate? I'm not exactly religious but if you cling to that ideal so much, can't you see it might be better to wait until things happen and be happy with the way things are for now?"

"Nothing you say can change my mind Uesugi-San." Her face reddened and she hid it from his view. She was trying to be standoffish but she had oversold it and addressed him in a way she hadn't in years.

"Maybe the kid we'd have if we got pregnant now would be a pain in the ass like his mother." Fuutarou teased.

"HMPH!"

"Maybe you'll regret not taking it slow. I don't think that matters." He leaned forward. "Because fate has taken us this far. So can't we just leave it up to chance?" He punctuated his remarks by planting a kiss on her head.

"You're right." Yotsuba sighed. "Maybe I'm not trying hard enough to enjoy this time. Stupid lady hormones."

"I don't blame you. I could never be mad at you under these circumstances. It's just sometimes I worry that, if too much time passes, I'll lose that side of you forever. It was the light inside your soul that I fell in love with."

"That light is still there Fuutarou-Kun. It's just not feeling so hot." Yotsuba's words were reassuring. And as further reassurance, she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into a kiss. That kiss, more than anything, helped them both relax.

"Let's lay down and watch TV." Fuutarou said.

"Good idea." She whispered. "Shishishi, just because I'm not really in the mood doesn't mean I can't give you some love."

"Whatever you say." Fuutarou rolled his eyes.

Love itself can be taxing when one's mind isn't in the right spot. And days like that just reassured the both of them that they made the right choice. Yotsuba needed someone who could shoulder her burdens and Fuutarou needed that kind of supporting light. That's why they were able to deal with things like this without much problem.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:Mother's Day

Yotsuba was feeling a rush of emotions as she stood in the graveyard. It had been ten years since her mother died. Ten crazy, wild years full of sorrow and regret and boundless joy. It had been one year since Yotsuba had married Fuutarou. April 28th was their anniversary, it was Yotsuba's anniversary. If the five girls could be born on the fifth day of the fifth month then Yotsuba's special day should be on the day that's written the same as her name.

It was so weird to think about. Despite all the regret she had for the way she had behaved, she knew she wouldn't change it for the world. She loved things just the way they were and wouldn't give it up even if it meant undoing the mistakes she had made. Even so, deep down, all she wanted was her mother's approval. It was a silly wish. Obviously Rena Nakano was proud of all her daughters. She would certainly approve of Fuutarou. Everyone who had known her and who she was as a mother knew this to be true. Still, hearing it in her voice would be more satisfactory.

"Hey Mom." Yotsuba said. She was tired. The sun hadn't even come up yet. All her sisters were surely asleep. She and Fuutarou had spent the night with his family. Yotsuba wanted the opportunity to come here alone and have some words with her mother on Mother's Day. "It's been a year since I got married." Yotsuba said as she toyed with her ring. "Everything has been great. Fuutarou-Kun and I have both kept busy with work and friends….and each other." She blushed. "The world's been a little crazy lately. This pandemic has gotten us all stressed."

She pondered her next thought. The full reason why she was here. The Nakanos were very superstitious. Their grandfather and mother were both creatures of habit that fully believed in things like fate. Yotsuba fully believed her mother was in heaven, looking down on her with a smile. And that filled Yotsuba with a careful warmth that allowed her to control every impulse that was coursing through her body. She wondered if her mother already knew. How omniscient were the people in heaven? It's not something Yotsuba ever put a lot of thought into and frankly, thinking about what things must be like for God made her head hurt. She could barely listen to one person at a time, let alone the millions of people praying at any given moment.

"I'm pregnant." She said. "I just found out yesterday." She kept her voice as even as she could. She wanted so badly to just scream it from the rooftops. She had tried and failed for so long, an entire year with no results. "With enough hard work even an idiot like me can achieve something. It's embarrassing to say but this was a lot of work. Fun work but….I'm sure you don't want to think about that. Sorry."

She looked back at the car parked on the road. Fuutarou had woken up with her and was here for her. The plan was to go gather the other Nakano quintuplets after this. Once gathered the five girls would pay their respect to their mother.

"He doesn't know yet. I'm scared that this might just be a faulty test. I heard somewhere that you should wait a few weeks before telling anyone outside your immediate family. Just to be safe." Yotsuba shrugged. "That's it for now, I'll be back later with everyone else. Happy Mother's Day. Even after all this time I still love you."

Yotsuba returned to her waiting husband. He didn't say anything. He just smiled and nodded. He never had the opportunity to meet Rena, the real Rena that is. But he knew the impact she had on the girls. Ichika had fully inherited her caring spirit and charm. Nino had inherited her stubbornness and her ability to cook. Miku had inherited her softness and her ambition. Yotsuba had inherited her caring spirit and her desire to help everyone she loves even at the cost of her own health. And Itsuki had inherited her strength, her mannerisms and her dream.

"Yotsuba, is there anything you want to tell me?" Fuutarou said as they approached Nino and Miku's apartment.

"You could tell?"

"You're not exactly hard to read."

"I'm debating whether to tell you first or when I tell all my sisters." Yotsuba smiled and laughed a little. Fuutarou used to be so clueless about everything and now he could seemingly read her mind.

"Suit yourself." Fuutarou said. "But next time, you might want to make sure you took the pregnancy test with you."

"What!?" Yotsuba freaked out and looked in her purse.

"That confirms it." Fuutarou sighed. Yotsuba dug through and found the test she had taken the prior day while Fuutarou was away. If it's been in her purse the whole time then that meas…"

"Not funny Fuutarou-Kun." She pouted.

"No need to get fussy. I could tell something was different about you when I got home yesterday. Why didn't you tell me? I'm not upset or anything, just surprised considering how long you've talked about having kids."

"I just...I need to make sure this is real." She explained. Fuutarou nodded and placed a hand on her thigh. She placed her hand over his. It was so much warmer than hers. She didn't grab it or anything. She just let it rest there as he continued to drive.

"I made all your other dreams come true." Fuutarou said. "This one will be no different. Even if it's just a defective test or something else going on in your body. You'll be a mother eventually. And you'll be just as good, no you'll be even better than your mom."

"That's a tall order." Yotsuba shrugged.

"You'll have me. If you'll forgive me for saying, a lot of the problems your family has faced was due to a lack of a paternal figure. Maruo did what he could but even he only came into your lives when you were ten. So any mistake you make, won't be as bad because we'll have each other."

"That's true." Yotsuba said.

Within an hour, they had gathered Miku, Nino and Itsuki and put them all in the same car. It was starting to feel cramped in the backseat, which just made Yotsuba giggle. Ichika was the only other girl that drove. The other three always just took public transportation. So Ichika was going to meet them at the graveyard.

When the five of them arrived, Ichika was already waiting with an iced coffee, sunglasses and a mask. On top of protecting her from current health risks it also helped stave off any fans. The five girls gave their prayers and dropped their flowers off at their mother's grave. Meanwhile Fuutarou visited his own mother's grave where he gave a silent prayer of thankfulness.

"Before we head to lunch there's something we need to tell you." Fuutarou said as they all gathered around. "Yotsuba."

"Put me on the spot, why don't you." Yotsuba muttered. "Guys...it finally happened. I'm pregnant."

The cheers were incomprehensible. Nino and Miku grabbed Yotsuba by the hands and got really close. Ichika tried playing moderator. Yotsuba was sent into a flurry of confusion. Everyone was asking questions all at once and it was too much for her sleep addled brain to process. Itsuki was the only one who didn't bother, she just slipped back to where Fuutarou was.

"Congratulations." Itsuki said.

"Thank you." Fuutarou said.

"Did you say anything to your mother?" She asked.

"Not particularly." Fuutarou said.

"I'm really happy for you." Itsuki said. "I'm excited to have my first niece or nephew. So, don't take my lack of enthusiasm…"

"Thank you Itsuki for showing some self control. Unlike some people!"

"Sorry." Nino said as she backed off.

"I want it to be a boy, like Fuutarou." Miku said.

"But a girl will be so much cuter." Ichika said.

"I just want it to be healthy." Yotsuba said in a daze.

"Any names in mind?" Nino asked.

"We have a few." Yotsuba said.

"Alright girls, give my wife some space." Fuutarou said.

"You should be more excited." Ichika said.

"Right now the only thing I can feel about it is relieved." Fuutarou said with a nod.

"Relief is a strange feeling to have." Itsuki noted. "Was this really stressing you out that much."

"No, this just means that maybe I'll have a good night sleep without Yotsuba getting all…."

"Okay!" Yotsuba snapped out of her stupor. Itsuki's face went bright red knowing what he was about to say.

"I kinda want to hear him say it." Ichika giggled.

"It's a private matter okay." Fuutarou grunted. "All you need to know is that dealing with Yotsuba, especially when she has baby blues, can be really exhausting."

"Oh I bet." Ichika winked.

"Let's just go." Fuutarou said as he played with his hair. He was embarrassed which always made Yotsuba feel very proud of herself.

Yotsuba wasn't a mother yet but that dream was finally in her sight. Finally, she can live fully for someone other than herself and pass her mother's wisdom onto someone else. Finally she can fill the hole in her heart, or more accurately dispense of all the excess love she had in her soul. Finally she could direct all her energy at someone who absolutely needed it instead of towards people who merely wanted it. And the best part was, it was Fuutarou's child too. She and him and all four of her sisters would always be there for each other, and for the child. And that sense of joy and belonging triumphed over all the other feelings swirling inside her.


End file.
